12 countries in RP Open badminton

Twelve countries, led by powerhouse Malaysia and Hong Kong, have re-confirmed their participation in the first Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open Badminton Championships presented by PLDT Business Solutions slated May 24-28 at the Philsports Arena.

The $120,000 event, the first-ever four-star tournament sanctioned by the IBF (International Badminton Federation) to be held here, is expected to lure not only the region’s finest players but those from Europe and the Americas as well.

The other teams that have signed up for the event, sponsored by Bingo Bonanza, JVC, PLDT and Smart, are Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Chinese-Taipei, Canada, Austria, England, Singapore and India.

Tickets purchased earlier will still be honored on the new event dates, according to IMG. Tickets for the new playdates are available at all Ticketworld outlets and are packaged in the following categories: May 24-26 Category 1 (P200); Category 2 (P150); Category 3 (P100); Category 4 (P50); Gallery (P10); May 27-28 Category 1 (P500); Category 2 (P350); Category 3 (P250); Category 4 (P150); Gallery (P20).

The event is expected to attract the likes of women singles players Wang Chen of Hong Kong, the world’s No. 3, No. 8 Kaori Mori of Japan, No. 11 Cheng Shou Chen of Taiwan.

The men’s side is likely to draw Korean Lee Hyun Il, ranked No. 5 in the world, No. 7 Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia, Ng Wei, the world’s No. 11 from Hong Kong, and world No. 2 Chong Wei, also of Malaysia, who is coming off back-to-back title romps in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Badminton Championships.