Home 
MANILA, Philippines - A rising tandem and a veteran sibling pair head the homegrown bid in the mixed doubles of the Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open Badminton Championships starting tomorrow at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
Kennevic and Kennie Asuncion, the famous brother-sister partnership that brought many international honors to the country, remain the top local hope among 29 foreign pairs led by world No. 11 Yohan Wiratama and Hoi Wah Chau of Hong Kong.
The rising RP tandem of Alfredo Mailom and Pauline Ramos enjoys higher rating than the Asuncions at No. 15 in the field that boasts topnotch competitors from Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Slovenia.
The Asuncions slipped to No. 21 due to fewer international stints, but they aim to do better than their runner-up finish in the 2006 inaugural staging of the Grand Prix Gold tournament.
Majority of the 145 international players arrived Monday for the prestigious $120,000 event featuring entries from 14 countries.
Former First Lady Amelita “Ming” Ramos, president of the Philippine Badminton Association, said the Open will also give local shuttlers a chance to earn ranking points needed to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.
World-ranked players will showcase their wares in the tournament organized by the International Management Group including world No. 2 Zhou Mi of Hong Kong in the women’s singles and 10th-ranked Chan Yan Kit of Hong Kong and 11th-seeded Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam in the men’s singles.
The men’s and ladies doubles titles are also up for grabs.
Ticket prices start at P50. For inquiries, log on to www.philopenbadminton.com.
