Alcala siblings win crowns in Swiss age group netfest

MANILA, Philippines - All the hard work under Olympic champion Rexy Mainaky of Indonesia is slowly bearing fruit for the young members of the Philippine badminton team.

“The results are coming in and we’re very, very happy. The hard work is starting to pay off,” said Philippine Badminton Association (PBA) secretary-general Albee Benitez.

The other day, the youthful congressman from Negros Occidental presented to the media siblings Malvinne Ann Venice and Mark Alcala who recently won in Switzerland.

Malvinne, 16, ruled the 19-under division in the Swiss International Junior Badminton Championships while Mark, only 13, made heads turn when he topped the 17-under division.

Malvinne whipped England’s Nathalie Chan-Lam, 21-7, 21-17, in the semis and stopped Belgium’s Marie Demy, 21-5 (retired) in the finals. Mark stunned Sean Vendy of England, 3-21, 21-8, 21-12, for the title.

Mark was the underdog against the 17-year-old Vendy who stood over six feet. But the 5-foot-3 Filipino was all over the court to score the come-from-behind victory.

“We heard that after losing to Mark the tall player from England wanted to quit the sport,” said former PBA president and former First Lady Amelita “Ming” Ramos in jest.

Last May, the PBA tapped the services of the 1996 Olympics gold medalist as head coach of the Philippine team, and there has been a tremendous turnaround in just five months.

Helping put up the ambitious program for the PBA are businessman Manny V. Pangilinan as chairman and Vice President Jejomar Binay as president.

Throwing in the needed support are Bingo Bonanza, Smart Communications and Victor. Benitez is looking at other sponsors and already showing interest is Cebu Pacific.

The badminton hall inside the Rizal now looks like a training center for national players and no longer a center for beginners and corporate tournaments.

He also reported that the men’s team of Ariel Magnaye and Joper Escueta jumped to 108th in the world from the high 200s just before Mainaky came in.

Ronel Estanislao and Paul Vivas have also moved to 232nd from no ranking at all. They are set to compete in the main draw of the Indonesian GP following stints in Super Series tournaments in Indonesia and Japan.

The national players are getting busy because this month they will see action in the Badminton Asia Youth in Dongguan, China on Oct. 10-14, Irish Future Series in Ireland Oct. 11-14, Swiss International Oct 18-21, France Super Series Oct. 23-28, and World Junior Championships in Chiba, Japan Oct. 25-Nov. 3.

“It looks like we are on track. Just look at Mark. He’s just 13 years old and he’s beating players in the 17-under division,” said Benitez.