Record cast prompts one day qualifier

The $150,000 JVC Asian Badminton Championships drew a record 318-player field, forcing the organizers to stage a one-day qualifier in two of the five divisions with hostilities in the main draw to start tomorrow at the Philsports Arena.

Five local bets are among the wildcard entries, including Jaime Llanes and Jaime Junio, who are hoping to join compatriot Kennevic Asuncion in the main draw of the men’s singles event, which features fancied defending champion and top seed Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia. Eight berths are at stake in the event while 15 teams vie for four slots in the men’s doubles.

But focus will be on the cream of the Asian crop, led by the world’s No. 1 ladies doubles team of Gao Ling and Huang Sui of China and Sydney Olympics men’s double gold medalists Tony Gunawan and Halim Haryanto, who are expected to clash for top honors in the five-day championships.

The field, indeed, looks awesome, if not, formidable.

At least three-to-five of the world’s top 10 players are competing in the men’s and ladies singles, men’s and ladies doubles and the mixed doubles, ensuring a tight, spirited battle for supremacy and the princely prizes staked in each of the five events.

China, Indonesia, Korea and Malaysia are fancied this early to slug it out for top honors owing to their form and past performances but the rest of the 19-team field may yet spring a surprise or two.

Hong Kong, for one, is expected to crowd the favorites with its talented roster, led by Chen Wang, who emerged the top ranked player in the ladies singles of the JVC Asian Rankings.

JVC has put up the ranking system to inspire strong performances from the Asian players with those emerging No. 1 in their respective divisions from a series of qualifiers and tournaments receiving $1,000 plus a JVC product.

Aside from Hidayat and Wang, the other top seeded bets are Gunawan and Haryanto (men’s doubles), Ling and Sui (ladies doubles) and Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min of Korea (mixed doubles).

NBN Channel 4 and IBC Channel 13 will cover the games starting tomorrow with primers at 1:30 p.m. (NBN 4) and 2:30 p.m. (IBC 13). Games coverage will start Thursday on both channels.

Tickets for the event are available at all National Book Store branches, Robinson’s Galleria (Ortigas and Ermita), Music Museum and at the Tower Records outlets in Makati and Alabang. Ticket prices are at P100, P200 and P300 during the elims, qualifiers and quarterfinals, respectively, while tickets for the opening day, the semis and finals are pegged at P200, P300 and P400, respectively.