NEWARK — Twice during Mission Valley Athletic League badminton play this season, James Logan High's Derek Chen lost to Mission San Jose's Jesse Wu in boys singles.

There wouldn't be a third time. No.2-seeded Chen claimed a 21-13, 21-16 upset win over Wu in the MVAL tournament boys singles final at Newark Memorial on Thursday afternoon.

"I wasn't motivated," Chen said of the first two times he played Wu. "This time I decided to run around more."

Chen advances to Saturday's North Coast Section tournament at Newark Memorial.

A year ago Chen finished second in the MVAL tournament in boys doubles, but won the NCS title.

In the first set Thursday, Chen took a 14-9 lead and upped it to 18-10 before finishing off the sophomore Wu, who was seeded No.1. The second set was a lot closer with five ties and three lead changes.

But Chen took control of the match with a 7-2 run to take a 19-5 lead and finished off Wu moments later with a 3-0 run and the victory.

Chen's win was the lone surprise. All the rest of the top seeds won league titles.

In girls singles play, Newark Memorial's Lien Hoang (No.1) posted a 21-11, 21-17 win over her teammate Taryn Yamagami. The unseeded Yamagami upset No. 2 seed Jessica Chan of Logan in the quarterfinals and No.3 Theresa Liu of Mission in the semifinals.

Hoang's motivation for this year was her experience from last year, when she finished fourth in league and failed to place at NCS.

"I have

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to look at her (Yamagami) like she's from another school," Hoang said. "She's a senior, and I know she wanted it."

Hoang is looking forward to the NCS tournament. One of the East Bay's top girls singles players, Sarah Chen of Hercules, is the likely favorite.

"I expected to win," Hoang said of the league tournament. "That was my short-term goal."

A year ago, Chen ended Hoang's run at the section tournament.

"She was my driving force to improve," Hoang said.

All the rest of the tournament was dominated by Mission, which went 12-0 in MVAL play.

The Mission boys doubles team of Bryan Tsang and Kevin Yang (No. 1) beat teammates James Youn and Daniel Chen (No. 3) 21-17, 21-18.

The Mission girls doubles team of Rebecca Chen and Mazie Hui (No. 1) posted a 21-19, 21-15 win over teammates Ada Hui and Stephanie Cheung (No. 2).

And Mission's mixed doubles team of Stella Chung and Brandon Ang (No. 1) cruised past teammates Daniel Yakuma and Julia Wu (No. 3) 21-16, 21-12.