RP hosts JVC Asian badminton tourney

The JVC Asian Badminton Championships, which gathers the best and the brightest players in the region, fires off Aug. 22 at the Philsports Arena with 250 players from 25 countries expected to vie for top honors in various divisions in the $150,000 event.

World champion Indonesia and powerhouse China lead the crack field seeing action in the five-day championships, which will showcase not only the talent and skills of the foreign bets but the top local players as well.

The men’s singles offers a top purse of $11,000 while the distaff side stakes $7,500 to the champion. Up for grabs in the men’s doubles is $13,000 top prize, while the ladies’ doubles and the mixed doubles offer $7,500 purse each to the champions.

China, which ruled the ladies’ singles last year in Jakarta, leads the field, which includes Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, Maldives and Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

"With many world-class players competing in the event, we hope that Filipinos will watch them play and become enthusiasts of the sport. We strongly hope that this event will become a venue to discover local talents who can be world-class players," said Mamoru Otake, JVC president for Asia and Middle East Companies, during the launching of the event yesterday at the Manila Galleria Suites.

The organizing International Management Group, a global sports marketing company which handles the careers of Tiger Woods and local golfers Cassius Casas and Gerald Rosales, has vowed to ensure the successful staging of the championship, this being the first time in 32 years the Philippines will host the event.

The event is sponsored by the Japanese electronic giant JVC for the fifth straight year and held under the auspices of the Asian Badminton Confederation. It is organized by the Philippine Badminton Association (PBA), spearheaded by former First Lady Ming Ramos, together with the ABC and IMG.

The Indons, led by singles champion Taufik Hidayat, bagged three of the five titles last year although they have their hands full this time since the rest of the field have either stepped up their preparations or honed their skills for the championships backed by Yonex, Manila Galleria Suites, 103.5 K Lite, 96.3 DW Rock, The Philippine STAR and will be telecast on IBC Channel 13 and NBN Channel 4.

The Filipinos, for one, will be out to assert their might with siblings Kennie and Kennevic Asuncion, who dominated the JVC Open Championships last month, leading the local challenge.