PH men’s team presses on in 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships
Credit to Author: THE MANILA TIMES| Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2020 11:55:43 +0000
The Philippine men’s badminton squad kept its quarterfinal hopes alive after outlasting Singapore, 3-2, in the 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships on Wednesday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.
Two doubles victories and a massive win by Solomon Padiz Jr. in the deciding singles match boosted the hosts’ chances of entering the knockout stage of the continental meet that stakes Olympic ranking points.
After Leonard Pedrosa lost to Loh Kean Yew, 11-21, 8-11, the duo of Peter Gabriel Magnaye and Alvin Morada pulled off a hard-earned 22-20, 21-19 sweep over Jun Liang Andy Kwek and Loh Kean Hean.
Singapore regained a one-match lead as Jia Heng Jason Teh downed Lanz Ralf Zafra, 21-14, 23-21.
Philip Joeper Escueta and Paul John Pantig pummeled Wen Xing Abel Tan and Jia Hao Howin Wong, 21-16, 21-16, setting up the stage for Padiz’s heroics.
With the country’s hopes of advancing to the playoffs in his hands, Padiz trounced Weng Soong Darrion Ng, 21-10, 21-19.
A loss by Singapore to the fourth-seeded Chinese Taipei today will send the Philippines to the quarterfinals set on Friday.
Earlier, the PH women’s squad crashed out after suffering a second five-match blowout, this time at the hands of powerhouse Indonesia.
Nicole Albo took the opening singles match against top Indonesian player Mariska Tunjung but eventually fell short, 21-19, 11-21, 9-21.
It was all downhill from there as the hosts dropped the next two singles and two doubles matches.
The pair of Alyssa Leonardo and Thea Pomar bowed down to Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu, 18-21, 12-21, while Bianca Carlos lost to Southeast Asian Games silver medalist Ruselli Hartawan, 10-21, 18-21.
Joella Geva De Vera and Chanelle Lunod took a 7-21, 8-21 beating to Siti Fadia Silva and Ribka Sugiarto before Sarah Barredo lost to Putri Kusuma Wardani, 19-21, 14-21.
“As a coach, I’m happy with the performance of my team because they played their best. They were able to at least make the games as close as possible against Olympic-level opponents,” said PH women’s team head coach Ian Mendez, whose wards got swept by Thailand in the first day.
“This a huge learning experience for us,” he added. JEREMIAH M. SEVILLA