Ming youth badminton slated

MANILA, Philippines - The current and rising young stars of Philippine badminton take center stage next month when the PBA Victor Ming Ramos Youth Cup age group badminton championships is held May 7-11 at the PSC Badminton Hall at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

Organizers said participants from Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro and Cebu have confirmed participation in the five-day event, which will feature members of the national junior squad, headed by Mark Alcala. 

For the first time, the Ming Ramos Cup will be held solely for the youth with the Open and Juniors categories to be staged on a later date to give members of the men’s and women’s national teams more time to prepare for the Sudirman Cup World Mixed Team Championships in Malaysia.

Competitions will be in the Under-19, Under-17, Under-15, Under-13 and Under-11 for boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles in all categories, and mixed doubles for U-19, U-17 and U-15 divisions.

For details, contact PBA at (632) 218-6582 or PBA events coordinator Joel Mabborang at (632) 927-5332988 or email [email protected].

Alcala is expected to lead the power-packed cast with the 14-year-old find set to play in the U-19 singles while the tandem of Christian Bernardo and Vincent Rafael Manuel is fancied to dominate the doubles event of the tournament sponsored by Victor, exclusively distributed by Pcome Industrial Sales, Inc.

“As we continue to gain the respect and recognition in the badminton world through the performance of our players, this event aims to discover more talents who could be our hope for the elusive medal in the BWF sanctioned international competitions, including the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games and the Olympics,” said Mrs. Ramos.

 Meanwhile, the Philippine Badminton Association Bagong BIDA project participants recently held a series of clinics and seminars in Tuguegarao as part of the PBA nationwide grassroots development program initiated by Mrs. Ramos.