Shuttlers shine in 4 international meets

MANILA, Philippines - The national youth badminton team and its junior counterparts turned in remarkable performances in international front in recent weeks, including a gold and silver medal feats in Australia and three bronze medal finishes in Sri Lanka, Japan and Korea.

Malvinne Alcala, Gelita Castilo, Janelle de Vera and Dia Magno defeated their Indian rivals, 2-1, in the quarterfinals but dropped a 1-2 decision to Malaysia in the semis and settled for bronze in Badminton Asia Youth Under-16 in Colombo, Sri Lanka last month.

Others who saw action in the Sri Lanka meet were Kenneth Monterubio, Elijah Boac, Paul Co, Carlos Cayanan, Gerald Sibayan and Lance Bautista.

“What our players need is sustained campaign abroad. We have the materials but unfortunately, we don’t have much resources to fund these international campaigns,” said Philippine Badminton Association president and former First Lady Amelita “Ming” Ramos.

But with support from PBA executive vice president Gen. (retired) Edgar Aglipay, PBA sec-gen PSupt. George Piano, coach Allan de Leon and backers Victor Pcome, Alex Villamanca, Conrado Co and Francis Cua, RP badminton continued to make big strides locally and abroad.

Mrs. Ramos also hosted a luncheon meeting last Tuesday honoring the members of the national and junior teams for their exploits abroad. These included a gold medal feat in the Arafura Games in Australia last May, courtesy of Ralph Ian Mendez and Arolas Amahit Jr., who crushed F. Kaddour and M. Desaymoz of India, 21-14, 21-12, in the men’s doubles.

Mendez, however, failed to complete a two-gold haul for Team RP when he lost to Io Chong Chan of China in the men’s singles final.

In Korea, the girls doubles pair of Marina Caculitan and Joella Geva de Vera captured the bronze by beating the local bets from Incheon City in the 16th Woncheon Cup Preliminary School Badminton Championships at the Seongam Culture and Sports Complex in Cheonan City.

Over in Japan, Team RP outsteadied Hong Kong, 3-1, to cop the bronze medal in the Asia Junior Sports 2009 at the Komazara Olympic gymnasium in Tokyo.

John Kenneth Monterubio and Gerald Sibayan humbled the taller Hong Kong pair of Tam Chun Hei and Or Chin Chung, 21-15, 25-23; the girls tandem of Castilo and Magno dominated Tang Tsz Ching and Huang Wun Yan, 21-16, 21-11, while Alcala trounced Cheung Ying Mei, 21-8, 21-16, in the girls singles to clinch the victory for the Filipino shuttlers.