Country’s vaunted shuttle smashers gather today for PBaRS Makati leg

THE country’s top shuttlers go toe-to-toe today in the packed opening playdate of the P1 million MVP Sports Foundation-Philippine Badminton Ranking System (PBaRS) Makati leg at the Powersmash in Makati City.

Games start at 8 a.m. until 8:40 p.m. as organizers stretched the playing hours to accommodate the record field of close to 700 entries fighting it out for top honors in 15 events. That includes the centerpiece Open men’s and women’s singles, which stake P70,000 to the winners, the boys’ and girls’ U-19 and U-15 singles, the Open boys’ and girls doubles and the mixed doubles.

The Open men’s singles, the Under-19 and U-15 boys’ singles have lured a huge 128-player field each, according to tournament director Nelson Asuncion.

While members of the national pool are expected to assert their might over the lesser lights, reversals are not being ruled out with the aspiring players, particularly from the provinces, raring to prove their worth in a bid to gain ranking points in the five-day championship sponsored by MVP Sports Foundation.

Late in the day, top seed Toby Gadi, who drew an opening round bye, opens his bid for a sixth straight Open men’s singles crown against Derek Bondoc while No. 2 Paul Vivas and Emmanuel Cabalfin will close out the long first day action at 8:40 p.m.

Top seed Gelita Castilo and No. 2 Bianca Carlos, the defending Open singles titlist, head the Open women’s singles field that includes  Bianca Legaspi, Danica Bolos, Jennifer Cayetano, Cassandra Lim, Elaine Malelang and Kristina Tan.

The eliminations will be played at Powersmash on Oct. 27-28 with the quarters, semifinals and finals slated at Makati Coliseum on Oct. 29-31. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio