Badminton Open unfolds today

MANILA, Philippines — After three long years, the Philippine Badminton National Open is finally back, beginning today at the Dragonsmash Badminton Center in Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City, and running up to Feb. 26.

This year’s tournament will include the national ranking system, and serves as part of the Philippine national team’s build-up for the 32nd SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

With P1 million prize at stake, the five Super 500 events include men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. The singles events winners will receive P70,000, while doubles events champs will  get P150,000.

Jewel Angelo Albo and Mika de Guzman lead the tough field.

“On behalf of the MVP Sports Foundation chairman Manny V. Pangilinan and our president Al S. Panlilio, badminton is one of the sports that we identified where the Filipino can be a world-class athlete,” said Philippine Badminton Association vice president Jude Turcuato.

“Getting into that level takes a lot of training, repetition, and mindset. It will take the full force of the badminton community to get it done. It used to be one of the country’s most popular sports, and the community has shown that it can rise once again,” Turcuato added.

This tournament backed by Yamaha, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), SMART Telecommunications, MWell, Maynilad, Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), and Ducksports, is the perfect platform for young up-and-coming badminton players to showcase their skills.