Cabuhat Would Like Respect
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All Joyce Cabuhat wants for her sport is a little respect. The soft-spoken junior is upset many of her classmates joke about the sport and don’t appreciate the accolades the teachers and staff at Magnolia showered on its badminton players this year.
“I’d like more recognition [from the students] for us at school,” Cabuhat said. “I always hear the kids joking about it. They wonder why we have been getting so much recognition from everyone. But we are the only team to go to the Southern Section finals in a long time. I think we deserve it.”
Cabuhat, 16, the Times player of the year, has a reason to be discouraged. The ’96 badminton team and the ’77 baseball team are the only Magnolia squads to advance to the section finals.
The fact the team reached the finals at all was somewhat of a surprise. Upsetting two seeded teams along the way, Magnolia gave Loara all it could handle in the Division II final, losing, 11-8.
“I was very proud of what we did this year,” Cabuhat said. “But it was discouraging to lose, especially since it was so close.”
Cabuhat, who lost in last year’s quarterfinals, advanced to this year’s semifinals in the individual competition before losing in three games to second-seeded Cammie Chou of Alhambra Mark Keppel, 5-11, 11-3, 12-11.
“I was ahead in the final game, 2-1,” said Cabuhat, who lost only four matches this year. “But I got tired and I just couldn’t get it done.”
This summer Cabuhat plans to work out and train more to get herself in better shape.
“I want to improve my backhand and my legs,” Cabuhat said. “I play tennis too. They said that would hurt my game, but actually it has helped me in training my legs.”
Cabuhat hasn’t played since her team lost in the finals, but she is planning to pick up the game again when she attends a badminton camp this summer in Garden Grove.
Unlike many badminton players, Cabuhat didn’t have family members who played and she didn’t begin playing until high school. Born in Agana, Guam, she wasn’t exposed to the sport until her family moved to Anaheim 10 years ago.
Her freshman year at Magnolia, she began playing because, at the time, it was the only thing to do in P.E. class.
“I played on my own a lot and I played against guys to help me improve,” Cabuhat said.
Partner Boris Chung and Coach Doc Rishel have helped improve her game.
Chung and Cabuhat advanced to the quarterfinals in mixed doubles, where they lost to the eventual champions, Alta Loma’s Marelyn Rompis and Amarit Rojsirivit, 15-6, 15-8.
“[Chung] has trained me individually on certain aspects of the game,” Cabuhat said. “[Rishel] is a good coach. He doesn’t just motivate, he tells you what to do. He works on strategy and tactics.”
Although her plans may change between now and the end of her senior year, Cabuhat, who has a 4.1 grade-point average, doesn’t have far-reaching goals for her badminton game.
“I want to go to Berkeley or Los Angeles [UCLA],” said Cabuhat, who plans to study medicine. “I will still play in college, but only for recreation.”
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