Bingo Bonanza Open returns next year

After a one-year absence, the Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open Badminton Championships will be back in June 2009 with a bigger, more explosive battle for supremacy among some of the world’s finest players and the country’s top and upcoming stars.

Philippine Badminton Association (PBA) president Amelita “Ming” Ramos said the move to stage the meet for next year meant preserving the world-class quality of plays the RP Open has been known for, a feature that would be lacking if the sponsoring Bingo Bonanza decided to push through with its hosting this season.

Organizers behind the tournament decided to cancel the 2008 edition of the netfest since its June-July playdate would have been held after the final Olympic qualifier, a development that could force the top international players to skip the meet as they prepare for the Beijing Games.

“But we’re happy to announce that we’re proceeding with the Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open Badminton on June 2-9 of next year,” said Mrs. Ramos in the PSA Forum at the Shakey’s UN Ave.

PBA vice-president Ret. Gen. Edgar Aglipay and Bingo Bonanza president Albee Benitez and Princess Galura of the International Management Group (IMG) accompanied the former First Lady in the weekly session sponsored by Shakey’s, Accel, Brickroad gym and Aspen spa and MedCentral Medical Clinic and Diagnostic Center.

“Being an Olympic year, we thought to just postpone the Philippine Open for next year since we’re not sure that there would be enough world class players who will see action in the meet,” said Benitez.

But by next year, PBA officials expect the tournament to dish out the same quality of plays badminton fans in the country witnessed before during the past staging of the RP Open.

In 2007, according to Mrs. Ramos, a total of 30 countries represented by some of the world’s best players came here to compete, with Malaysian Lee Chong Wei bagging the men’s singles crown with a 21-9, 21-15 sweep of Chinese Chen Hong in the final.

As in the past, the RP Open would remain a five-star ranked tournament that offers a total of $120,000 prize purse.

“Unlike before when it was just a tournament within the Philippines, the RP Open has become today a part of the World Badminton satellite series. So expect the world’s top players to see action in the meet once again,” Aglipay said.

Siblings Kennie and Kennevic Asuncion bannered the RP campaign in the previous stagings of the event, but will now expect to share the limelight with upcoming Filipino shuttlecockers such as Alvin Alcantara and Andre Babad.

“We’re looking at a slightly different result the next time. We hope the Filipinos will have a good showing,” said Mrs. Ramos, a former RP singles badminton runner-up and RP doubles champion.