MANILA, Philippines – Pauline Tan and Kevin Cudiamat hope to live up to the hype against a slew of talented rivals as they lead the title chase in the 2015 Bingo Bonanza National Open badminton tournament which unwraps Monday at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall and Glorietta 5 Atrium in Makati.
Tan of Maynilad gained the top seeding from Sarah Barredo in women’s singles with impressive finishes in tournaments leading to the Bingo Bonanza meet while Cudiamat, a PBA-Smash Pilipinas standout, remains the top player in the men’s side of the upcoming ranking tournament sanctioned by the Philippine Badminton Association.
The top two bets, along with the other seeded players, drew opening day byes but all are expected to have their hands full when action in the week-long event, sponsored by the country’s premier amusement center, goes full blast Tuesday.
Tan is tipped to bump into the likes of either fourth seed Airah Albo, also of PBA-Smash, or Tricia Pomar and Rose Lagnada, both of FEU/Equiparco-BBC, and Allied-NVBA’s Aldreen Concepcion, while Barredo, winner of the recent FDG Cup, settles for the No. 2 seeding and is expected to run into defending champion No. 3 Gelita Castilo of UP-Diliman, Danica Bolos of Victor-PCOME and Beverly Lagnada of FEU/Equiparco-BBC.
The battle for the men’s singles Open crown is also expected to be fierce as Cudiamat, if he plays true to form, is lined up to face the likes of Kenneth Monterubio of Allied-NVBA, Paul Vivas of PBA-Smash, Edwin Dodds of Team Prima, third seed Kevin Dalisay of Allied-NVBA, and No. 8 Frell Gabuelo, also of PBA-Smash.
Defending champion Marky Alcala took the No. 2 seeding in the full-packed 64-player men’s field with the young ace, winner of at least a couple of tournaments, including the FDG Cup, all geared up for another crack at the crown in the event sponsored by Gatorade, Glorietta, Smash Pilipinas and the Philippine Olympic Committee.
The top Allied-NCBA bet, however, will have to hurdle the likes of R-Ormilla and Ros Pedrosa of PBA-Smash, JC Clarito of Yappies Badminton Group, Team Prima’s Reese Lo and Air Force’s Rabie Oba-ob to stay in the hunt for back-to-back championship in the week-long event.