PROMISING Clarence Villaflor came up with an impressive performance to reach the men's singles final of the Philippine Badminton Open last week. The West Negros College freshman is a former national junior. PBAD PHOTO
The Philippine Badminton Association (PBAD) is happy with the successful staging of the Philippine Open which attracted more than 400 players from all over the country.
National players Jewel Angelo "Jelo" Albo and Mika De Guzman won the men's and women's singles titles, respectively, in the competition held at the Gameville Ball Park in Mandaluyong City (finals) and First Pacific Leadership Academy in Antipolo City (eliminations to semis).
"The Philippine Badminton Association is super happy with the turnout of the PBO (Philippine Badminton Open) this year. We were so excited to see all of the players in action. We had over 400 players battling it out, and today in the finals, we saw the best of the best crowned as champions," PBAD secretary general Carla Lizardo-Sulit said on Tuesday.
"It is really important for us to tap into as many clubs across the country as possible, so we were really happy with the representation we saw. We had players from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Hopefully, for future projects of PBAD, we will continue to grow the network. We know that to develop badminton as one of the most popular sports in the country, we need the help of everyone," the former Ateneo de Manila University standout said.
Jude Turcuato, the first vice president and head of sports at PLDT, was also pleased.
"For me, as part of PBAD, the MVP Sports Foundation, and Smart, I'm happy that we were able to organize this PBO. It took a lot of effort from the federation and the badminton community. I'm happy that the participants signed up from all across the country".
Clarence Villaflor was a revelation in the tournament as the former national junior made it to the men's singles final against Albo.
"This is really a good venue to discover talents like Clarence. Jelo actually went through a similar situation during the MVP Cup two or three years ago. He was also a walk-in, an undiscovered talent, and he made it to the finals and surprised a lot of people. So, with Clarence, it was the same thing. While it might not be a surprise to the badminton community, it was surprising in general that someone not from the national team reached the final," Turcuato said.
Meanwhile, the PBAD is eyeing more international exposure for its players to improve their rankings, with the hope they qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, USA.
"For PBAD, there are two main focuses. One is to prepare for the next Olympics in LA by securing resources to join more international tournaments to earn points and qualify. The other focus is our grassroots program, concentrating on our juniors’ program and schools to discover emerging talents," Turcuato said.
Lizardo-Sulit stressed the continuous improvement of the national team program with the goal of achieving success in four years.
"We are trying to build a strong support system for our senior team to establish a high-performance program. This includes sending them to as many tournaments as possible. Competing almost every month in another country is one of the challenges of badminton, so we hope to strategize well and send them to the right tournaments to see results internationally," she said.
"We’ve been competing at Level 2 and Level 3 internationally and are already seeing results. We’re thrilled about that with our seniors and juniors. We are past the stage of just qualifying; we are now aiming for the podium. Our next goal is to graduate from Level 3, achieve results at Level 2, and eventually reach Level 1, which includes the Olympics," she added. PNA
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