BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS : Two Sets of Siblings Lead Crawford to Win

SAN DIEGO — Badminton partners Tram Dang and younger sister Kim Dang, one year apart in age but both seniors at Crawford High School, agreed that the toughest thing about winning all the time is maintaining motivation.

They should know.

With their help and that of three brothers Thao V., Thao M. and Thuan Nguyen, top-seeded Crawford easily won its third consecutive San Diego Section team championship Friday with a 15-2 victory over No. 3 San Diego.

“It gets hard sometimes, staying motivated,” Kim Dang said. “We go over that every day in practice.”

And it has paid off. Colt Coach Mary Bucaro cited “hard work and motivation” as keys to the team’s success. “Plus,” she added, “we’ve been blessed with a lot of depth.”

The Dangs, seeded second in next week’s individual doubles draw, defeated San Diego’s Pheary Ly and Y Phuong, 15-3, 15-4. Earlier, Tram Dang, seeded fifth next week in singles, was nearly perfect in her 11-0, 11-1 singles victory over Phuong. Kim Dang beat Molly Savaldy, 11-1, 11-2.

Tuyet Truong, Crawford’s No. 1 girls singles player, also won two matches.

For the boys, Thao V. Nguyen, a senior, and Thao M. Nguyen, a junior, are seeded No. 1 in doubles and Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, in singles. They combined to beat Somsack Monsavath and Chanty Thip in the No. 1 boys doubles match, 10-15, 15-10, 15-11.

Monsavath, the defending section singles champion, and Thip, however, each won their singles matches, giving San Diego (12-4) its only victories over Crawford (16-0).

The Colts’ rout ended what had been the most consistent scoring sport in the section as each of the first four championships ended 11-6.

Crawford beat Hoover for the title last year, and Serra in 1990. The Colts’ last loss--their only loss with Dang and Dang playing--came in the 1989 championship against Hoover.