Swiss Open feat big boost to Phl badminton

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine men’s doubles team’s breakthrough victory in the Swiss Open highlighted local badminton’s remarkable season with top officials hopeful of reaching new heights in the coming year.

“Winning the Swiss Open last October was the PBA’s biggest achievement in 2014 and I would like to thank all the players, coaches and fellow officers for achieving the feat,” said Philippine Badminton Association sec-gen Rep. Albee Benitez.

Paul Vivas and Peter Magnaye of the PBA-Smash Pilipinas team put on a superb all-around game to stun top seed French rivals Baptiste Careme and Ronan Labar, 6-11, 11-9, 10-11, 11-6, 11-10, and snare the tough Swiss crown in what has become a defining performance from the national team.

Members of the national team also vied in various international meets in Australia, Sri Lanka and France, gaining exposure and the experience needed to toughen them up for next year’s campaign.

“We are looking forward to achieving something more or something bigger in 2015 for the Philippine team which should further boost local badminton,” said Benitez.

Aside from Vivas and Magnaye, the national team is led by senior players Toby Gadi and Joper Escueta, and national junior standouts Ros Leenard Pedrosa and Sarah Joy Barredo.

Local badminton has been on an upswing since Vice President and PBA head Jejomar Binay and PBA chairman Manny V. Pangilinan took the helm with a number of ranking tournaments staged and a slew of players produced the last few years.

Benitez also lauded the all-out support of MVP for holding the Smart Badminton National Open and the Sun Cellular-Ming Ramos National Juniors nationwide three-leg circuit.

“We are very thankful to MVP for sponsoring various ranking tournaments this year,” said Benitez who also cited the recent Bingo Bonanza National Open.

All tournaments were sanctioned by the PBA and the Philippine National Ranking System.

“Our young players are getting better each day physically and mentally and we look forward to putting up more tournaments next year and producing more talents with the ultimate goal of making it to the 2016 Olympics,” said Benitez.