Xu leads field in RP Open badminton

Xu Huaiwen, a Chinese ace donning Germany’s jersey, will be the top ranked player in a field teeming with talent when the $120,000 first Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open Badminton Championships presented by PLDT Business Solutions is staged beginning May 24 at the Philsports Arena.

Listed as the world’s No. 4 player in the ladies singles in the latest IBF (International Badminton Federation) rankings, Xu is fancied to frolic to the championship owing to her talent and skills which she hopes to display in the five-day event, the first four-star tournament ever to be held here.

With over 200 players from 17 countries clashing for top honors in various divisions, the event promises to be a blockbuster considering the popularity that the sport has generated the last three years.

Tickets are available at all Ticketworld outlets and are packaged in the following categories: May 24-26 Category 1 (P200); Category 2 (P150); Category 3 (P100); Category 4 (P50); Gallery (P10); May 27-28 Category 1 (P500); Category 2 (P350); Category 3 (P250); Category 4 (P150); Gallery (P20). Tickets purchased earlier will still be honored on the new event dates, according to IMG.

For details call Ticketworld at 891-9999 or get online at: www.ticketworld.com.ph.

Xu, the 31-year-old ace from Guiyang, China now based in Germany, is actually going for a repeat of her four straight victory last year when she won the Dutch Open, Bitburger Open, Finland World Grand Prix and the Belgian Int’ l in succession.

So far, Hu has won the Swiss Open last January and romped away with the European Championship crown last month and a victory here would augur well for her campaign in the Indonesia Open, a six-star tournament, slated the week after the RP Open.

Out to foil Hu’s bid in the blue-ribbon event sponsored by Bingo Bonanza and JVC (PHILS.), Inc. are Pui Yin Yip of Hong Kong, Anu Nieminen of Finland, Salakjit Ponsana of Thailand and Sutheaswari Mudukasan of Malaysia.

Irene Chiu and Karyn Velez will banner the locals’ bid in the ladies singles, hoping to pull off upsets and make it to the medal round in a bid to obtain world ranking points, this being an IBF-ranking tournament.

Aside from the Philippines and Germany, the other countries seeing action in the event, backed by Jam 88.3, 99.5 RT, Magic 89.9, 103.5 K-Lite, Wave 89.1, Snickers, Toby’s Sports, The STAR, Badminton Asia, Inquirer Badminton, Fossil Watches, Bacchus Energy Drink, Accel, Yonex Sunrise, Crowne Plaza, the official hotel, and Solar Sports, the official TV partner, are Finland, Canada, Germany, Japan, Vietnam, Italy, England, Thailand, the United States, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Macau, Hong Kong, Denmark and Singapore.