2007 Champions:
Men's Singles - Lee Chong Wei, Malaysia
Women's Singles - Zhou Mi, Hong Kong
Men's Doubles - Koo/Tan, Malaysia
Women's Doubles - Chien/Cheng, Chinese Taipei
Mixed Doubles - Natsir/Widianto, Indonesia
RP Best World Finest Shuttlers vie In Prestigious Philippine Open
Local badminton, enjoying tremendous popularity the last three years, gets a further boost when the Philippine Open is staged for the first time on March 1-5 at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City. The event will mark the first annual IBF event held in the Philippines and will pit the best Filipino players against some of the worlds finest shuttlers.
A total purse of $120,000 will be up for grabs in the keenly-awaited event which is a four-star tournament sponsored by Bingo Bonanza Corporation and sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation. The new event will give local players the rare chance to obtain world-ranking points on home soil. But it will be tough considering the depth of the competing field with the player field expected to feature badminton powers China, Malaysia, Korea, Denmark and Indonesia as well as the regular campaigners from Europe leading the chase for top honors in the singles and doubles (mens and ladies) and mixed doubles events.
"We are honored to be taking the lead role in staging this first-ever Philippine Open, which we hope will help our talented players gain valuable experience and world ranking points on an annual basis," said Bingo Bonanza Corporation president Albee Benitez.
Bingo Bonanza is the pioneer in professional bingo gaming in the Philippines which brought the bingo game to the public in the convenience of large and modern bingo halls, elevating the game into a professional, reliable and legitimate source of entertainment for communities.
The organizing IMG is expecting close to 200 players from 15 countries to compete in the event, held under the auspices of the Philippine Badminton Association and backed by international electronics giant JVC. It also serves as a fitting tune-up for those competing in the China Masters, a six-star tournament slated the week after the Philippine Open.
To accommodate the big number of entries, a series of eliminations will be held with the qualifiers advancing to the tournament proper. Registration is ongoing with deadline set Feb. 1.
For details, contact the PBA, Badminton Hall, Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, P. Ocampo St,, Malate Manila c/o Joel Maborang at +63 926 5973222 or send an e-mail to joebm_13@yahoo.com and aglipay@globequest.com.ph or log on to the events website on www.philippineopenbadminton.comA total purse of $120,000 will be up for grabs in the keenly-awaited event which is a four-star tournament sponsored by Bingo Bonanza Corporation and sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation. The new event will give local players the rare chance to obtain world-ranking points on home soil. But it will be tough considering the depth of the competing field with the player field expected to feature badminton powers China, Malaysia, Korea, Denmark and Indonesia as well as the regular campaigners from Europe leading the chase for top honors in the singles and doubles (mens and ladies) and mixed doubles events.
"We are honored to be taking the lead role in staging this first-ever Philippine Open, which we hope will help our talented players gain valuable experience and world ranking points on an annual basis," said Bingo Bonanza Corporation president Albee Benitez.
Bingo Bonanza is the pioneer in professional bingo gaming in the Philippines which brought the bingo game to the public in the convenience of large and modern bingo halls, elevating the game into a professional, reliable and legitimate source of entertainment for communities.
The organizing IMG is expecting close to 200 players from 15 countries to compete in the event, held under the auspices of the Philippine Badminton Association and backed by international electronics giant JVC. It also serves as a fitting tune-up for those competing in the China Masters, a six-star tournament slated the week after the Philippine Open.
To accommodate the big number of entries, a series of eliminations will be held with the qualifiers advancing to the tournament proper. Registration is ongoing with deadline set Feb. 1.
Other backers of the tournament are The Philippine Star, Inquirer Badminton, Solar Sports, Jam 88.3, 99.5 RT, Magic 89.9, 103.5 K-Lite, Wave 89.1, Snickers, Tobys Sports, Fossil Watches, Bacchus, Yonex Sunrise and Crowne Plaza, the official hotel.
The event comes on the heels of IMGs successful staging of the 2005 MVP Cup in Manila, which featured some of the world best players in Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms, world champion Taufik Hidayat, Lin Dan, Pi Hongyan, Mia Audina Tjiptawan among others in a classic Asia versus Europe duel. (END)
