THE national players beat their respective rivals, led by top seed Paul Vivas who handily defeated Rusty Rodriguez, 21-10, 21-10, yesterday in the second round of the men’s Open singles in the Philippine National Open-Ming Ramos Youth Camp Badminton Championships at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall.
Vivas, a veteran of the national team, took just 17 minutes to dispose of Rodriguez and set up an encounter with fellow Philippine team mainstay Kevin Alfred Dalisay, who advanced with a 21-6, 21-12 rout of Kingsley Go of Escoses Training Camp.
With new Indonesian head coach Rexy Mainaky monitoring their performances, the Filipino shuttlers are hard-pressed to show their wares in the tournament. Second seed Andrei Babad was first to wilt under pressure as he suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Alex Borromeo of Escoses Training Team.
Babad, a long-time member of the national team since his junior days, dropped a 21-23, 21-8, 21-9 decision to Borromeo, who advanced against Lawrence Palomer of Babolat Academy.
The other national players, however, breezed through the next round of the weeklong tournament.
Christopher Flores trounced Mark Gregorio, 21-6, 21-7, for a clash with Robert Aloyan, who ripped Dave Dueves, 21-11, 21-11; Marvin Cudiamat routed Christian Bandialan, 21-11, 21-12, to move up against Jose Lorenzo Yason, who whipped Jay Antonio, 21-11, 21-12;
Peter Gabriel Magnaye needed three sets to repulse Antonio Pacupia Jr., 21-19, 15-21, 21-14, for a showdown with Mark Magboo, a 21-10, 16-21, 21-16 winner over Sylvester Cosico while Joper Escueta made short work of Anthony Chen, 21-12, 21-8, for a duel with Gen Vincent Fabro, who scored a walkover win Benjude Cajefe. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio