AFTER another winless day for Philippine campaigners in the Smart Asian Badminton Championships yesterday, Malaysian coach Rozman Razak reiterated the dire need for the local bets to have foreign exposure to raise their level of play.
“Training is important but so is having international competition. Some, if not most, of the overseas players here have had six tournaments before coming over here. This is our first one,” Razak noted after seeing two more Pinoy pairs tumble out at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex.
Eleanor Christine Inlayo and Susmita Angelique Ramos became mincemeat to the fifth-seeded Japanese tandem of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 6-21, 11-21 in just 27 minutes in the first round of women’s doubles play.
Also exiting the tournament organized by the Philippine Badminton Association were Airan Mae Nicole Pablo and Thea Marie Pomar, who put up a semblance of fight in the second set but eventually lost to the Hong Kong duo of Ng Tsz Yau and Tsang Hiu Yan 8-21, 15-21.
A former Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in the team event for the Malaysian national squad, Razak refused to blame his charges entirely for their poor outing in the tourney sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation.
“As I have said, we are practically starting from zero while the players who are competing in this event compete regularly abroad so are more seasoned and experience,” the bespectacled coach said.
Unlike other Asian countries, Razak pointed out that the country’s national players stagnated for lack of international play the past two years due to the pandemic.
His sentiment was shared by national women’s coach Philip Jopher Escueta, who combined with Ronel Estanislao as the last Pinoy bets to win a SEA Games medal with a bronze in the men’s doubles in the 2015 Singapore edition.
“Talaga pong kulang sa exposure kaya hindi makapag-react ng mabilis ‘yung players natin in critical situations of the game kasi hindi matagal silang hindi nakalaro sa labas. Start from zero talaga,” Escueta said.
“Sa skill level halos pareho lang sila ng kalaban kaya lang sa decision-making within the game kulang pa,” he said. “But with more international tournament mas mag-i-improve ang players natin.”
Razak said the PBA top brass led by Albee Benitez had pledged to send the Filipino players to at least 10 overseas competitions in the future so they can become more competitive and less awed whenever they are up against foreign opponents.
