WITHOUT competition for over two years, national team rookies Jewel Albo and Mika de Guzman are keen on making the most of their chances in the Smart Badminton Asia Championships set to start tomorrow at the Muntinlupa Sports Center in Muntinlupa.
“Matagal din kaming hindi nakalaro. Dalawang taon, kaya gusto naming magtagal sa kompetisyong ito,” Albo in the press conference launching the event yesterday at the Crimson Hotel in Alabang, Muntinlupa.
De Guzman echoed Albo’s sentiment’s saying: “We have not played in a long while so we want to make the most of our opportunities in the tournament.”
Both bets were scheduled to play in the qualifiers of the men’s and women’s singles, needing to win two matches to make it to the main draw.
Malaysian coach Rozman Razak was realistic about the chances of the hometown campaigners, noting that 12 of the top 20 players in the world are competing in the men’s singles while 11 of the top female players in the world are bracketed on the distaff side.
“Realistically speaking, our badminton players are starting from zero but they need this kind of exposure; it is important for them because of their huge potential to improve,” Razak pointed out.
Razak added the tournament sponsored by Smart was timely since this would also serve as a tune-up for the national team set to compete in the 31st Vietnam Southeast Asian Games opening in Hanoi on May 12.
Philippine Badminton Association Inc. vice president Jude Torquato said this one of the reasons why the PBA agreed to host the tournament that drew 276 players from 18 countries from Asia.
“We want our players to compete with the best and this is the start of their journey of rising up the world badminton ranks,” Torquato said.
Among those seeing action in the tournament is Indonesian world No. 5 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, who bagged the men’s singles gold medal in the 30th SEA Games at the very same arena three years ago.
