A ‘smash’ hit on and off the court

It is not purely coincidental that his killer move on the green court is the smash. It’s because Kennevic "Vic" Chua Asuncion, ranked as the No. 1 badminton player in the Philippines, is a smash hit on and off the court.

Vic describes a "smash" as a sharp and swift move darting from the top and lunging way down. "In volleyball, it can be compared to the spike," he explains. How apt.

It’s because Vic can also be sharp and swift on the green rubber mat. He can be quite a daunting (and dauntless) opponent really. After all, he is rated 75 (out of over 500 players) in the world (Men’s Singles) and is ranked 29th with sister Kennie Asuncion (in the Mixed Doubles).

He has cinched myriad medals and trophies throughout his stellar 11-year career as a badminton champ. Among his many medals are bronze (for Mixed Doubles) at the 22nd Southeast Asian Games held in Vietnam in 2003; two bronze medals (Men’s Singles and Mixed Doubles) at the 2002 Canadian Open Badminton International; and a silver (Men’s Singles) at the 2002 Asian University Games.

He is also a consistent gold medalist at the JVC Open Badminton Championships, which is generally considered as the national games in the Philippines.

Without a doubt, badminton has bestowed on him countless honors. Vic, however, would be the first to acknowledged that all these achievements didn’t come at a snap of a finger or at the swing of a racket. It took 11 full-packed years and thousands of hours of rigorous practice before Vic attained his current winning form on the court.

"I practice six times a week, twice a day, seven to eight hours a day," he quips. "It’s a lot like reporting for work in an office almost every day." Whew!

Such patience and perseverance have spelled gold for the young athlete – not just on the rubber mat, but also away from the court. Badminton, he volunteers, has bestowed on him numerous precious lessons on life and work. "Being independent," he enumerates. "Being sports-minded helps you develop the other aspects of your life. Actually, it develops your entire life. The whole package."

Even in his daily life, badminton has given him numerous benefits. "It has really taught me to be mature enough, to think about everything," he affirms. "In life and in sports, you really have to be determined and patient to achieve anything worthwhile. You really have to work hard to attain what you want. It has developed the personality that I now have."

Vic, who’s actually a quiet and modest person in real life, has become a self-assured and powerful player – even beyond the badminton court. Badminton, he attests, hones an athlete to be a well-rounded person. "And badminton is not just about physical fitness," he remarks. "It also sharpens the mind. There’s a lot of strategizing involved in the game. And anticipating your opponent’s every move. It’s because we only have a small court in badminton. So you have to be smart enough to put the shuttlecock where your opponent will have a hard time to reach it."

Needless to say, badminton has allowed him to maximize his strengths and turn his weakness into a definite asset. "My edge is that I started early, at age 11," he points out. "So I had a lot of time to polish my skills. In badminton, there is no such thing as a height advantage. Someone taller can reach farther, but his movements are slower because he is heavier. If you’re smaller, on the other hand, you’re faster, but you have to move a lot more."

Vic, for his part, enjoys the best of both worlds because he’s not too tall and not too short. His height is just right for the game and allows him to have the reach of a tall guy and the nimble footwork of a short guy. The lack of height advantage also makes Filipinos a possible contender in the world badminton arena. "Most of those who excel in badminton are from Asia," he remarks. "Like the top three are from China. In terms of height and built, we’re almost the same compared to them."

And one distinct advantage we have over Europeans is our geographical proximity to the best players in Asia. "We’re near them," Vic expounds. "So we can easily train with them. We can play with them in regional meets. We can ask them questions and learn from them. Unlike the Europeans who have a hard time coming over to Asia."

That is precisely why Vic is batting for more badminton interaction with our Asian neighbors – to further improve the Pinoy athlete to world-class levels. "That’s where private sponsors would come in," says Vic, who is sponsored by Yonex. "We need a lot of support from both private companies and the government so that our athletes can fly abroad and train and play with the best badminton players and coaches." (This August, Vic will start playing in the Denmark League for six months).

He is also very optimistic about the current popularity of badminton in the country. "I think it’s a good idea," he elaborates. "I am very happy that there are a lot of badminton courts sprouting all over the city. In the past, it took a lot of explaining on my part whenever people asked me what sport I was in. It was as if they didn’t consider badminton a sport. It was dismissed as a backyard hobby. But now I see even pilots and celebrities holding a badminton racket."

That signals a positive development for the sport, he opines. "Now, it’s considered an international sport," he intones. "But then again, even if it is popular, we still need to train constantly. So we can be competitive in the international playing field. We shouldn’t just play for fun. We should train seriously."

That is his big dream for his beloved sport. He states wistfully: "My dream is to see the Philippines on top of the game, to be number one in the world. To prove that we Filipinos can do it."

With Vic leading the way and leading the pack, the Filipino Smash Kings will surely reign supreme in the world badminton arena.