MVPSF big boost to local badminton

MANILA, Philippines - The MVP Sports Foundation’s all-out support to badminton has helped raise the level of game of local players with new stars emerging from a wider base of talents playing in the Philippine Badminton Ranking System (PBaRS) tournaments.

Mark Shelley Alcala underscored the young players’ climb to stardom with the 14-year-old ace shuttler completing his rise from one of the top junior players to an Open champion by ending Toby Gadi’s three-year reign spiked by seven championships in the recent eighth MVPSF-PBaRS tournament.

“Through MVP’s vision three years ago, we’re now reaping the fruits of our hard work,” said PBaRS tournament director Nelson Asuncion, referring to sportsman Manny V. Pangilinan, who helped put up the first-ever nationwide ranking circuit in 2011 to promote the sport and at the same time discover talents who could be trained and developed to become members of the national team.

“Hundreds of players, especially in the provinces, are looking forward to this series of tournaments to showcase their skills and compete with the best in the land,” said Asuncion. “After eight tournaments, we now have a wider base of talents to choose from for our national pool.”

Vice President Jejomar Binay, a badminton buff himself, saw first hand how local badminton has progressed the last few years during the recent MVPSF-PBaRS tilt at Robinsons Place Manila.

Alcala also copped the Under-19 singles crown while sister Malvinne Ann Alcala, who had limited participation in the circuit owing to her stints abroad, ruled the women’s Open singles.

Bianca Carlos, another young star, reigned in the girls’ U-19 class while Louis Joaquin Pangilinan and Mariya Angela Sevilla emerged as the next big stars by ruling the Under-15 singles categories.

Other supporters of the circuit are official equipment sponsor Victor, exclusively distributed in the country by PCOME Industrial Sales, Inc., Gatorade, Vineza, Sincere Construction, Victor Pcome Industrial Sales and Krav Maga Philippines with TV 5, The Philippine STAR and Badminton Extreme Philippines Magazine as media partners.