Sustain PBA gains, Ming urges new leaders

MANILA, Philippines - Former First Lady Amelita “Ming” Ramos hopes the new badminton leaders will maintain the program made by her administration, particularly on developing the young talents with potential to make it big on the international stage.

“I believed that badminton is a sport that we Filipinos can excel and become world champions,” said Ramos, who recently stepped down as badminton president for Vice President Jejomar Binay.

She singled out Malvinne Ann Alcala as the next big thing in Philippine badminton after the 15-year-old find bagged the silver medal in women’s singles in the Maldives International Challenge in May last year, the highest achievement by a Filipina in an Open international tournament under the Badminton World Federation.

“That’s the very first Badminton World Federation Women’s Open highest achievement in the history of Philippine badminton considering that she’s only 15 years old,” said Ramos, referring to Alcala.

Gelita Castilo, the other gem of a find, also took the singles bronze in the said event which lured some of the world’s leading shuttlers.

Alcala also went on to bag the girls’ singles gold in the Under-17 division in the Singapore Youth International late last year, also the highest placing by a Filipina in the Asian Junior Championships.

Aside from Alcala and Castilo, the country’s other leading and rising junior players are Joper Escueta, Gabriel Magnaye, Marky Alcala, Keeyan Gabuelo, Nicole Albo and Lea Inlayo.

Ramos said she hopes the new leadership will continue developing these talents and transforming them into world-class athletes.

“When I sat as president in 1994 in order to make this possible, we launched a nationwide clinic on badminton fundamentals, coaching and officiating aside from our regular tournaments,” Ramos said.

Under her watch, the PBA (Philippine Badminton Association) hosted a number of international tournaments, including the 1997 Asian Juniors Badminton Championships, the Asian Thomas and Uber Cup prelims in 1998, and the MVP Cup Asia vs Europe series in 2005-06.

Local badminton also boomed early in the decade with the PBA partnering with electronics giant JVC in putting up the Philippine Opens for five years before Bingo Bonanza Phils took over with an international-flavored field in 2006 till 2009 when Ramos was re-elected PBA president.

The Filipino shuttlers also racked up victories and won medals abroad, including the Arafura Games in 2009 and the Maldives International Challenge, the Syria International Series, the Li Ning Singapore Youth International, the NVBA MIC Cup in Malaysia and the BWF Victor Korea Grand Prix last year.