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06/11/25 - It was a debut to remember for Team NMI’s U19 Junior National Badminton Team as they bagged the bronze medal in the VICTOR Oceania Junior Mixed Team Championships 2025 after the finale on Tuesday, June 10, at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.
After a whirlwind three-day tourney filled with intense action, spirited rivalries, and emotional moments in front of the home crowd, NMI racked up a total of four wins and two losses to snag a place on the podium.
Gold went to powerhouse Australia who won all six of their matches, while silver was New Zealand at five wins and one loss.
The last opponent NMI faced in the tourney on Tuesday was neighbor rival Guam, who they came out of almost unscathed, 4-1.
Dave Odicta and Shaina Malonzo set the tone for the day as they overpowered Yu Xia and Allan Zeng, 15-8, 15-8, in the mixed doubles, followed by a dominant performance by team captain Lina Tsukagoshi over Kristine Deng, 15-6, 15-8. Tsukagoshi then teamed up with Malonzo to secure their third win as they beat Deng and Offeia Yordy, 15-6, 15-10. NMI capped off the tourney with a come-from-behind win by Odicta and Jude Mallari over Xia and Zeng, 12-15, 15-10, 15-11.
On Day 2 on Monday, it was the defining moment for NMI as they pulled an upset over team Tahiti and won, 3-2. Prior to that, they swept Fiji, 5-0, then also narrowly beat Cook Islands, 3-2 on the first day on Sunday.
Nate Guerrero, national player and coach of the NMI U19 team said of their podium finish, “It feels really good—extra special because we’ve always fallen short to Cook Islands and Tahiti. This is going to be the first time for the kids to beat those two countries because they come in tough and each has a player that are top in Oceania.” With all that, he said, “Our kids trained hard, we worked hard, and our game plan pulled through. Hats off to the other teams too because they really gave us a run for our money.”
Janelle Pangilinan, also a national player and co-coach of the team said that their toughest opponent was “all of them because we don’t know all their players… but once we beat Fiji and Cook Islands, we knew our next toughest opponent is Tahiti, so we knew that was the game to beat, and last night (Monday night) was the best matches that the kids have played.”
On if the team exceeded their expectations, Guerrero said, “The kids went above and beyond. They did more than exceed our expectations—we did expect them to do good because we did push them in training… we’re just really, really happy for them.”
For 17-year-old Odicta, who, along with Mallari, clinched the last match against Guam said of his performance in this tourney was a “rollercoaster. There were a lot of ups and downs and staying consistent is key in us winning. I’m proud of team NMI for pushing through despite all the errors and down sides we had.”
He added, “I’m just really proud of how far we’ve come, especially as the host island.” On their third place finish, he said, “It’s the greatest feeling ever. This is actually our first time competing in Oceania Junior Championships and beating big countries like Cook Islands and Tahiti—it’s a great feeling and I’m glad that our whole team pushed through. We’re not going to stop—we’re going to keep fighting, keep practicing for future competitions and make Saipan and the whole NMI proud.”
By Leigh Gases
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