Estanislao, Vivas seek FDG Cup title repeat

MANILA, Philippines -  Ronel Estanislao and Paul Vivas hope to dish out the form they flaunted the last time out as they try to make it two in a row in the centerpiece Open men’s doubles division in the 2012 FDG Cup Open and Invitational Badminton Championships slated Oct. 5-6 at Powersmash in Pasong Tamo, Makati.

Estanislao and Vivas won all their matches in straight-set fashions last year, including a 21-10, 21-10 romp over Ariel delos Santos and Gabriel Villanueva in the final, making them the team to watch in the upcoming P1 million event which offers the richest purse in doubles competitions.

Registration is ongoing with deadline set on Sept. 21. Fee is pegged at P800/participant, inclusive of tournament shirt, sports bag, mini electric fan. A double entry is allowed with the same entry fee. For details, call/text 0932-8573431 c/o Glenn Encarnacion or Richard Bautista or log on to www.fdgcup.com.

This year’s top purse in the men’s doubles has been raised to P200,000, P40,000 more than last year, while the mixed doubles winner will get P120,000 and the ladies doubles champions will receive P90,000, making it the richest ever in any Open doubles competitions.

Organizers of the event, to be graced by Iza Calzado as host, said the field will be limited to 64 pairs in the men’s doubles and 32 teams each in the mixed and ladies doubles. Giselle Sanchez and Brod Pete will provide the entertainment.

Others out to score a repeat are the Gelita Castilo-Dia Magno tandem for the ladies doubles diadem and Castilo-Toby Gadi duo in the mixed doubles.

The annual event is staged by the business partners of Robinsons Land Corp. in cooperation with the Partners Cup as RLC president Frederick Go’s continuing commitment to help develop the sport. It is held to promote fitness and health and at the same time foster camaraderie among the management and staff of RLC and its business partners, including architects, consultants, project managers, contractors and suppliers.

Last year’s edition was graced by world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei and doubles specialist Koo Kean Kiat of Malaysia where he played alongside FDG and Kennevic Asuncion in exhibition matches. Another batch of foreign stars is expected to spice up this year’s event.