Southern Section Badminton : Teammates Advance to Semifinals Again

For Tracy Hudson and Thuy Nguyen of Garden Grove High School, advancing to the final of the Southern Section individual badminton championship has become an annual affair.

The past two seasons, the two top-seeded players have met in the Southern Section final, and Hudson won both matches.

Friday at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Hudson and Nguyen reached the girls’ singles semifinals and are a match away from a third meeting.

Hudson, considered the best player in the nation after she won the national junior championship this year, beat Rebecca Curtis of Redlands, 11-4, 12-9, and My Le of Westminster, 11-6, 11-0. Nguyen also had little trouble, defeating Melanie Layson of Long Beach Jordan, 11-5, 11-9, and Laura Cummins of Kennedy, 11-3, 11-5.

“It’ll be very hard to play her again,” Hudson said. “We’re both seniors and want to win this year.

“After we play, we won’t even speak to each other for at least five minutes to get over the match.”

The competition may be fierce, but the pair are such good friends that Hudson will drive Nguyen to today’s matches, just as they have driven to school this year.

In the semifinals, Hudson will face fourth-seeded Penelope Mackie of Newport Harbor, and Nguyen will meet No. 3-seeded Cyndi Rhone of Troy.

“There’s a lot more pressure on me because I have so much to lose this year,” Hudson said. “Since I won the junior nationals, I’ve felt a lot of stress.”

In addition to singles, Hudson will play mixed doubles with teammate Viet Ta. They are seeded fourth and will meet the No. 1 team of Martin Flores and Denise MacDougall from Colton.

In girls’ doubles, No. 3-seeded Tonya Vandevort and Tu Le of Buena Park are the only Orange County team to advance to the semifinals.

Thomas Sudibjo of Fullerton, seeded No. 2 in boys’ singles, easily defeated Huynh Viminh of Huntington Beach, 15-2, 15-9, and Derin Bosorquez of Colton, 15-4, 15-1. Sudibjo plays Dharshan Veerasekera of South Hills in the semifinals, with the winner likely to face Colton’s Flores, who is top-seeded in boys’ singles.

Semifinal play begins at 2 p.m.