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32 NT NEWS. Tuesday, August 6, 2013. www.ntnews.com.au PUB: NT NEWS DATE: 6-AUG-2013 PAGE: 32 COLOR: C M Y K Third time still a charm Isabel Aniceto, 17, displayed great fighting spirit to overcome Jane Tseng in the final of the NT Open Ladies singles Picture: DANIEL HARTLEY-ALLEN BADMINTON HOW THEY FARED Junior results at 2013 NT Badminton Open. Under-19 boys singles final: Tom Ocampo d Bowen Viravong 31-21. Under-19 girls singles final: Isabel Aniceto defeated Esperanca Barreto 31-22. Under-19 boys doubles final: Tom Ocampo/Bowen Viravong d Alex Cao/Jessi Vicencio 31-24. Under-19 mixed doubles final: Tom Ocampo/Isabel Aniceto d Chris Robins/Esperanca Barreto 31-25. Under-15 boys singles final: Alex Cao d Romy Puhalovich 31-26. Under-15 girls singles final: Elysia Viravong d Jemma Vicencio 31-20. Under-15 boys doubles final: Alex Cao/Matthew Williams d Romy Puhalovich/Harry Le 31-20. Under-15 girls doubles final: Elysia Viravong/Bernadete Aniceto d Jemma Vicencio/ Kim Fitzgerald 31-24. Under-15 mixed doubles final: Alex Cao/Elysia Viravong d Romy Puhalovich/Jemma Vicencio 31-23. Under-13 boys singles final: Romy Puhalovich d James DeLosa 31-11. Under-13 girls singles final: Elysia Viravong d Bernadete Aniceto 31-30. Under-13 boys doubles final: Lester Tendilla/YuXuan Zheng d Edmundo Barreto/ James DeLosa 31-26. Under 13 girls doubles final: Bernadete Aniceto/Alex Delosa d Elysia Viravong/Karlie Haskard 31-28. Under-13 mixed doubles final: James DeLosa/Elysia Viravong d Edmundo Barreto/ Bernadete Aniceto 31-25. TOURNAMENT top seed William Ponsonby won his third consecutive NT Open Men’s Badminton singles title after downing second seed Saidina Pawero in a closely fought final. The demanding two-set 21-16 22-20 victory was just re- ward for a tough training rou- tine by Ponsonby, who is aim- ing to make his mark at the Nationals in Geraldton, West- ern Australia, next month. The win by Ponsonby put Pawero’s desire for a 10th NT Open on hold for another year. Pawero exacted some re- venge on his arch-rival when he teamed with Jacob Modoh to take the Open Men’s doub- les title over Ponsonby and Wei Kian in the closest of fin- als matches 21-19 21-19. Kian also grabbed a slice of the sil- verware in the Open Mixed Doubles when he and Jane Tseng defeated the Pawero/ Nina Ruzsicska combination in three sets 21-17 17-21 23-21. Another big winner at the Championships was 17-year- old Isabel Aniceto, who dis- played great fighting spirit to overcome Jane Tseng in the final of the NT Open Ladies singles 19-21 21-17 21-15. Aniceto’s determination again shone through when she was able to defeat Es- peranca Barreto in the under- 19 girls singles. Aniceto and Barreto how- ever were knocked over by the experienced pair Tseng and Aminah Puhalovich 21-12 18-21 21-16 in the Open Doub- les decider. ‘‘I was runner-up last year and this was my first NT Open singles title, which was a goal before the tournament started,’’Aniceto said. ‘‘My next goal is to get top 10 place at the Nationals later in the year — I don’t want to go and lose.’’ The boys under-19 title was keenly fought between NT re- presentatives after a success- ful, under-19 national carni- val last month in Hobart, where they finished 4th. The experienced gained by Tom Ocampo at the Nationals shone through and he took the NT title, defeating Bowen Viravong 31-21. NT badminton coach Pawero was delighted with the performance of the jun- iors at the tournament. ‘‘We’ve got under-15 and under-13 Nationals to look forward to later in the year,’’ he said. ‘‘The large turnout and high quality of juniors at this tournament gives me great confidence in achieving the goal of having NT junior players with an Australian top 10 ranking.’’ Hardi Territorians run rings around rivals at Townsville festival ATHLETICS By IAN BUTTERWORTH A RECORD field of Territory athletes competed in the 15th annual Townsville Running Festival with Darwin pair Lucie Hardiman and Darren Peacock winning the wom- en’s marathon and men’s half-marathon respectively. Although running in the event for the first time, Hardi- man, 42, went into the race as firm favourite to take the women’s title. This was de- spite competing against ath- letes from every Australian state and internationals from Japan, Korea, China, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Canada. She didn’t disappoint and completed the 42.2km in 3hr 4min 13secs — three minutes ahead of second placed Japan- ese runner Rumi Otani with Susan Crowe (Cairns) third, a further 12 minutes away. ‘‘I started off at a fairly good pace and was keen to hold that the whole way, but I found it a bit hotter in the second half. That slowed me down a bit, but I was able to stay ahead of the other wom- en and I’m pleased with the final result,’’ said Hardiman. ‘‘It’s a gorgeous course with pretty views and scenery particularly when the sun was rising. ‘‘It’s also nice and flat which I always appreciate.’’ Peacock claimed first place in Queensland Country Health Half Marathon in 1:14.38 to beat Cairns runner Nick Carling (second, 1:15.12) and Townsville’s Simon O’Regan (third, 1:15.30). Peacock also enjoyed the course, saying the conditions were perfect for his event. ‘‘I kept pace with a group of about five and gauged myself against them for the first half of the race, but at about 15km, I felt really good and put in a bit of a surge, which paid off.’’
