Asuncions leapfrog to 11th in world ranking

The Philippines’ Kenny and Kennevic Asuncion took another big step in their bid to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics when they moved to 11th spot in the world ranking of mixed doubles.

The brother-and-sister tandem jumped from 20th to 15th last week, and remained in full stride following a round-of-32 finish in the mixed doubles of last week’s Yonex Korea Open which is considered a super series.

The Asuncions could have breached the top 10 and earned more rating points if not for a 10-21, 17-21 loss to world No.4 Thomas Laybourn Kamilla Rytter-Juhl of Denmark.

The Asuncions have been on roll since winning the bronze medal in the 2003 Southeast Asian Games. It was the first medal for the Philippines in the SEA Games where the Indonesians reign supreme.

Two weeks ago, the Filipino pair also made it to the round-of-32 of another super series tournament in Malaysia before falling to yet another Danish tandem in Britta Andersen and Joachim Nielsen, 18-21, 14-21.

The Asuncions are seeking to pull off solid efforts in at least 10 international tournaments sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation to make the cut in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

So it’s still a long way to go.

"We need to continuously compete internationally not only to gain points but also to sustain the momentum and keep the fire," said the duo’s father and coach Nelson.

"But for us to do that, we need all the help we could get from both the government and private sector," he added.

Budget permitting, Asuncion said they are eyeing two more super series events — the All England Open slated March 6-11 in Great Britain and the Swiss Open set March 14-18.

In the list, the Asuncions rank fifth in Southeast Asia behind No. 1 Nova Widyanto and Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia, No. 2 Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand, No. 9 Hendri Kurniawan Saputra and Li Yujia of Singapore, and No. 10 Songpol Anukritayawan and Kunchala Vorawitchitchaikul of Thailand.

They are seventh in Asia behind the four Southeast Asian pairs and No. 3 Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen and No. 5 Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China.

Rounding up the top 10 were No. 4 Laybourn and Rytter-Juhl, No. 6 Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms and No. 7 Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg of England, and No. 8 Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Kostiuczyk of Poland.