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Badminton: Pinoys’ lack of exposure during pandemic shows in Asian tilt

Article (news)

Manolo Pedralvez

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A protracted break from international play was evident in Ros Leonard Pedrosa (pictured) and the rest of the Philippine team’s performance at the start of the Asian Badminton Championships. Handout" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/sports/04/26/20220426-bac-rosleenard-pedrosa.jpg"/><figcaption>A protracted break from international play was evident in Ros Leonard Pedrosa (pictured) and the rest of the Philippine team’s performance at the start of the Asian Badminton Championships. Handout</figcaption></figure></div>The long layoff from international play was indeed evident in the national team’s performance on Tuesday at the start of the Smart Asian Badminton Championships at the hot and humid Muntinlupa Sports Complex gym.Whether it was in the men’s and women’s single qualifiers, the doubles or mixed doubles events, Filipino players wilted under the spotlight since their last competition at the Smart Asian Badminton Team Championships held in early March 2020 at Rizal Memorial Coliseum.The nearest the hosts came to a breakthrough win was in mixed doubles when veterans Alvin Morada and Thea Pomar won the first set only to fall to Hong Kong’s Tak Cjhing and Ng Wing Yung 21-15, 14-21, 21-23 in the opening round.They were up 17-16 in the pulsating extra set but couldn’t hold on to the lead, enabling Hong Kong pair to steal the come-from-behind victory after battling through two deuces.Earlier in the day, Ros Leonard Pedrosa typified the meltdown of the local campaigners, winning his first match in the men’s Group C qualifiers 21-14, 21-14 at the expense of Bahrain’s Ebrahim but couldn’t keep pace with lithe and lanky Kazakh Dimitry Panarin 14-21, 8-21 in his second match.A men’s singles quarterfinalist at the 2019 30th Southeast Asian Games, Pedrosa held early leads over Panarin, Kazakhstan’s top player, in both sets but looked winded as the match wore on and was sent packing after just 31 minutes of play. “ ‘Yung physical conditioning, na feel ko na bumigay. Palagay ko kaya namang laruin siya pero kulang talaga sa kundisyon. (I felt my physical conditioning collapse. I think I could play to his level but my conditioning was lacking,” Pedrosa rued after playing the former No. 6 junior player in the world.“Nakakapanibago po talaga ‘yong intensity sa international play kaya hindi po ako nakasabay,” added the 25-year-old Airman, who bagged the MVP Cup men’s singles crown last January. “Conditioning-wise, kulang pa ho. (We sorely lacked conditioning).”Teammate Janelle Anne Andres also had relative success in the women’s singles Group B qualifiers, taking a 10-21, 8-21 loss to Indonesia’s Stephanie Widjaja before returning to the court to subdue Fatima Nabaaha Abdul Razak of the Maldives 21-17, 21-17.With their 1-1 win-loss marks, neither Pedrosa nor Andres advanced to the main draw since only the group top-notchers make it to the first round. National team rookies Jewel Angelo Albo, a former national junior standout, and Mikaela Joy de Guzman, the UAAP Season 82 rookie of the year while playing for Ateneo, were swept in their own Group D qualifying brackets in the men’s and women’s singles. Albo, dropped both of his matches in Group D, first to China&#x27;s Lei Lan Xi 17-21, 15-21 followed by an 8-21, 10-21 loss to Hong Kong&#x27;s Chan Yin ChakDe Guzman, dropped a 21-13, 15-21, 14-21 heartbreaker to Malaysia&#x27;s Malaysia&#x27;s Myisha Mohammad Kairul then lost to Indon Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi 23-25, 8-21 in Group D.Solomon Padiz Jr. and Eleanor Christine Inlayo also absorbed a 10-21, 16-21 defeat to Malaysia&#x27;s Chen Tang Jie and Peck Yen Wie in the other mixed doubles clash. Padiz suffered a double blow, as he teamed up later with Julius Villabrille in the men’s doubles where they were waylaid by the eight-seeded Malaysian pair of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izuddin 9-21, 14-21.

The long layoff from international play was evident in the Philippine team’s performance at the start of the Asian Badminton Championships.