PBad sets sights on international tournaments

PBad sets sights on international tournaments | Daily Tribune

The Philippine Badminton Association (PBad) will be focusing on international tournaments following the successful staging of the 2024 Philippine Badminton Open (PBO) last week at the Gameville Ball Park in Mandaluyong City and the First Pacific Leadership Academy in Antipolo City.

PBad secretary general Carla Lizardo-Sulit said they are glad over the turnout of the PBL, where over 400 players competed for pride and glory.

As expected, the national team, Smash Pilipinas, dominated the podium with Jelo Albo and Mika De Guzman emerging as champions in the men’s and women’s singles events, respectively.

However, several University Athletic Association of the Philippines standouts Ysabel Amora of National University, Kimberly Lao and Patricia De Dios of University of the Philippines (UP), and Kervin Llanes and RA Pedron also from UP made their presence felt, underscoring the deep talent pool of local badminton.

“The Philippine Badminton Association is super happy with the turnout of the PBO this year. We were so excited to see all of the players in action. We had over 400 players battling it out, and today in the finals, we saw the best of the best crowned as champions,” Lizardo-Sulit said.

“It is really important for us to tap into as many clubs across the country as possible, so we were really happy with the representation we saw. We had players from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.”

“Hopefully, for future projects of PBad, we will continue to grow the network. We know that to develop badminton as one of the most popular sports in the country, we need the help of everyone.”

Jude Turcuato, the first vice president and head of sports at PLDT, was also pleased with the outcome of this year’s PBO.

“For me, as part of PBad, the MVP Sports Foundation, and Smart, I’m happy that we were able to organize this PBO. It took a lot of effort from the federation and the badminton community. I’m happy that the participants signed up from all across the country,” Turcuato said.

With the PBO in the books, PBad shifts its focus to getting these talents to compete internationally and improve their rankings, with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“For PBad, there are two main focuses,” Turcuato said.

“One is to prepare for the next Olympics in LA by securing resources to join more international tournaments to earn points and qualify. The other focus is our grassroots program, concentrating on our juniors’ program and schools to discover emerging talents,” Turcuato said.

Lizardo-Sulit shared the same sentiments, emphasizing the continuous improvement of the national team program with the goal of achieving success in four years.