ALL-COUNTY TEAMS AND ATHLETES OF THE YEAR : Buena Park's Sundara Tough as Iron on Court : Girls' badminton: Senior's strong serve has led her to 115 consecutive victories over two seasons.

ALL-COUNTY TEAMS AND ATHLETES OF THE YEAR : Buena Park’s Sundara Tough as Iron on Court : Girls’ badminton: Senior’s strong serve has led her to 115 consecutive victories over two seasons.

By TOM BIRSCHBACH

June 5, 1991 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

BUENA PARK — Who would ever guess that Noy Sundara had a contentious bone in her graceful body?

On the surface, the Buena Park High School senior is a warm and engaging teen-ager. On the surface of the badminton court, however, she is quite a different story.

“Noy Sundara is an iron butterfly--very sweet, but a very tough competitor,” said Lillian Brabander, Estancia’s badminton coach.

“Iron butterfly?” said Sundara, who is The Times Orange County girls’ badminton player of the year. “I guess she’s right. When I’m on the court, I have to play my game. I take it very seriously.”

So seriously, in fact, that Sundara has won 115 consecutive matches over the past two seasons. She won two Southern Section individual singles championships and led Buena Park to the 1990 4-A team championship and a runner-up finish to Estancia this year.

Furthermore, Sundara, who graduates this month with a 3.43 grade-point average, hopes to win a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. She already has accepted a scholarship to play for Northern Michigan University, site of the U.S. Olympic badminton training program.

“I went to the Olympic Festival in Minneapolis-St. Paul last year and had some good matches with the pros (international players),” she said. “I was really scared and nervous. But after I played the pros, they got to know me. They finally noticed.”

Sundara will not compete in this year’s Olympic Festival next month in Los Angeles.

“I didn’t know anything about it,” she said. “They didn’t invite me. I was never told. I want to go.

“I think there were some rumors going around that I’m not going to play badminton anymore. Well, I’m going to continue at Northern Michigan.”

Pasian Rangskitpho, president of the Southern California Badminton Assn., gave another reason for Sundara missing the festival.

“She had to compete in the Junior National Championships in April in Colorado Springs if she wanted to play, and she knew that,” Rangskitpho said. “She is talented and has potential for the ’96 Olympics, but she needs to be more motivated and train harder. She runs out of gas against international competition.”

Sundara has come far on her strategy and placement of her shots.

“She’s strong and confident,” Buena Park Coach Michelle Tafoya said. “She’s very good at placement and her strength is her strategy, her ability to spot and exploit an opponent’s weakness.”

Said Sundara: “I watch the way they (opponents) move, the way they stand, the way they flinch and I go in the opposite direction. I watch for their weaknesses in the pregame warm-ups, whether it’s their forehand or their backhand. I ace them a lot. I get most of my points by my serve.”

Sundara immigrated from Laos in 1978 with her family, which now includes three brothers and four sisters. She credits three of her girl cousins with getting her interested in badminton during her freshman year of high school.

“I didn’t know what it was like,” she recalled. “They told me there’s a lot of Asian people in coed badminton and I’ll have lots of fun there.”

It has been more than fun for Sundara. But for her Southern California opponents, it will probably be a lot more fun now that Sundara is taking her game to Michigan.

The Times’ All-County Badminton

FIRST-TEAM BOYS

Player School Yr. Sang Kim Garden Grove Jr. Chau Nguyen Estancia Jr. Cong Ta Bolsa Grande Jr.

Player Comment Sang Kim Semifinalist in section individuals. Chau Nguyen Top boys’ player for section 4-A champion. Cong Ta Semifinalist in section individuals.

FIRST-TEAM GIRLS

Player School Yr. Anh Loi Ocean View Jr. Doan Nguyen Estancia So. Noy Sundara Buena Park Sr.

Player Comment Anh Loi Pushed Sundara in individual semifinals. Doan Nguyen Won mixed doubles in section team, individual finals. Noy Sundara Won 115 in a row over two seasons.

SECOND-TEAM BOYS

Player School Yr. John Gunlach Corona del Mar Sr. Lan Ly Estancia Jr. Dai Vu Costa Mesa Sr.

Player Comment John Gunlach 28-2, reached section quarterfinals. Lan Ly Won mixed and boys’ doubles in section. Dai Vu 17-3, Won Pacific Coast singles championship.

SECOND-TEAM GIRLS

Player School Yr. Linda Luong Costa Mesa So. Karen La Habra Jr. Schameck Cam Tu Tran Estancia Sr.

Player Comment Linda Luong 19-1, Pacific Coast singles champion. Karen 28-4, No. 2 singles player in Freeway League. Schameck Cam Tu Tran Section individual girls’ doubles champion.