MANILA, Philippines - The chase for badminton supremacy and ranking points begins today with 39 matches, including the centerpiece Open singles, on tap in the P1.5 Bingo Bonanza National Open Badminton Tournament at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall.
Timothy Alvar slugs it out with Arsen Alvarez at 9 a.m. while Renz Lumaday and Christian Sioson clash at 9:20 a.m. in the first two men’s singles matches firing off the week-long championship featuring the country’s leading shuttlers and rising stars and a slew of Indonesian players.
Yappies Badminton Group’s JC Clarito and Almira Ramos tangle with PBA-Smash mainstay Ronel Estanislao and Indonesian Marissa Vita; Joper Escueta, also of PBA-Smash, teams up with another Indonesian Keshya Hanadia as they face Vince Lagnada and Mae Pomar of FEU/Equiparco-BBC; Sidney de Jesus and Fatima Cruz of Meralco take on Carlos Cayanan and Alyssa Geveruan of PBA-Smash; and Mike Minuluan and Minarti Timur, also of Indonesia, battle Gines Alvare and Marie Lucas in four Open mixed double matches tipped to go down-to-the-wire.
Edison Cupcupin of Philstar/Babolat and Heildenberg Dimarucot of Team Ai-Ai Badminton Club collide with Christian Bernardo and Alvin Morado in the first of nine mixed doubles matched lined up in a busy opener of the event sponsored by Bingo Bonanza and backed by Gatorade, Glorietta, Smash Pilipinas and the Philippine Olympic Committee.
Also on tap are matches in women’s singles pitting Mariya Sevilla vs Klowie Garcia at 1 p.m. followed by the Jessica Muljati-Irish Molina clash, the Mae Pomar-Shane Salvador duel, the Jennifer Cayetano-Maridel Rivera face-off, the Monica Rivera-Dei Duquilla clash, the Marie Lucas-Felice Lorenzana duel, and the Hanah Tudtud-Susmita Ramos clash.
Action heats up tomorrow (Wednesday) with another day-long battle of smashes and drop shots as the survivors fight for berths in the quarterfinals to be held at Glorietta 5 Atrium.
The National Open, sanctioned by the Philippine Badminton Association headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay and sec-gen Rep. Albee Benitez and organized by EventKing Corp., marks the second straight year of the event’s revival with the country’s premier gaming and amusement center backed as the sport’s chief backer.