FDG Cup badminton unfolds at Powersmash

MANILA, Philippines - The FDG Cup Open fires off today with the cream of the country’s badminton crop and a slew of foreign players slugging it out for top honors in three doubles divisions at Powersmash in Makati.

Malvinne Alcala, the country’s No. 1, teams up with Indon Deariska Medita as they head the 32-team field in the Open women’s doubles that includes No. 2 Gelita Castilo and Thai partner Laura Choinet, third seed Saro Fullante and Indon Natalia Poluakan, No. 4 Rintan Sutanto of Indonesia and Rubie Vallarta, and No. 5 Dia Magno and Chinese Lily Wang.

Hostilities start at 9 a.m.

Meanwhile, world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and former world top player Peter Gade of Denmark arrive in separate flights today to play in exhibition matches on Sunday, highlighting the grand 10th staging of the three-day tournament held in honor of Robinsons Land Corp. president Frederick D. Go, a long-time supporter of badminton.

Lee, who also graced the 2011 edition of the annual event, will team up with the country’s former No. 1 Kennevic Asuncion as they play Gade and Go at 3 p.m.

Lee and Gade, who reigned as world No. 1 from 1998 to 2001 and briefly recaptured the top post in 2006, will next switch partners to cap the exhibition games that will also feature Richard Gomez, Iya Villana and Kennie Asuncion.

Action in the Open men’s doubles, which stakes P180,000 to the champions, is also expected to be fierce with a host of Thai players teaming up with the country’s leading shuttlers. Toby Gadi of Ateneo and Golden Shuttle Foundation and Thai Sudhket Prapakamol get the top seeding while Mike Paclibar and Songphon Anugritayawon, also of Thailand, is the second ranked team in the talent-laden field.

Recson Salvaleon and Thai Samatcha Tovonnakasame are seeded No. 3 while the Roden Rivera-Tinn Isriyanate tandem is ranked No. 4 in the event which also features the Partners Cup, composed of employees and business partners of RLC.

Bianca Carlos, back-to-back winner of Under-19 and Open titles of the PBaRS’ (Philippine Badminton Ranking System) last two legs, sees action in the 32-team Open mixed doubles in tandem with Subhan Hasan of Indonesia.

The mixed doubles stakes P160,000 to the winner while the Open women’s doubles champion will get P140,000.

Over 100 prizes will be raffled off during awards rites, including 10 smart phones, 10 tablet computers and 10 40-inch TVs as part of the event’s 10th year celebrations.

The elims and the quarters for the Open division will be played at Powersmash tomorrow and Saturday, while the semifinals and finals, along with the Invitational event (Classes A, B, C, D, E and F), will be held at Robinsons Place Manila on Sunday.