Thursday, August 18, 2005
Pinoys win in doubles opener of world badminton tilt
KENNIEVIC and Kennie Asuncion of the Philippines upset 16th ranked Philippe Bourret and Helen Nichol of Canada, 15-13, 9-15 and 15-9, in the opening round of the mixed doubles competition in the 2005 International Badminton Federation (IBF) World Badminton Championships Tuesday at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California.
Tied 2-all in the third set, the Asuncions scored the next nine points to post a commanding 11-2 lead. The Asuncion siblings then yielded service over their Canadian opponents, who battled back to trim the deficit, 12-9. However, Bourret and Nichol couldn't get any closer as they turned possession over to the Filipinos, who capitalized and closed out the match.
After taking the first set, the Asuncions looked poised to claiming victory in the second set after erecting a 7-4 advantage. Nevertheless, the Canadians scored the next five points to seize the upper hand 9-7. The Filipinos managed to stay close, 9 - 10, but the Canadian pair forged a third and deciding set after scoring five straight points to claim the second set.
The Asuncions, who are ranked 24th in the world, will next meet the winner between Slovenia's Gasper Plestenjak and Maja Kersnik and the Netherlands Jurgen Wouters and Paulien Van Dooremalen on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Kennievic went the full distance as he edged England's Andrew Smith, 17-15, 5-15, 17-15, in the opening round of the men's singles competition. The younger Asuncion will face a tough task ahead as he will next battle world number one Lin Dan of China on Thursday. Lin drew an opening round bye.
Interestingly, Asuncion and Lin were teammates last month when they played for Team Asia in the inaugural MVP Cup in Manila.
ESPN Star Sports, Asia's number one sports broadcaster, will have the live and exclusive coverage of this year's World Badminton Championships direct from the Arrowhead Pond starting from the quarterfinals down to the finals from August 20 to 22 on Star Sports.
More than 300 players representing more than 50 countries are competing in this year's event, which is making its first appearance in the US.
Aside from the Asuncions, other prominent players competing in the event are recent Manila visitors Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, Zhang Ning of China and Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson of England.
Next year, ESPN Star Sports will broadcast the prestigious Thomas and Uber Cup from Japan. (PR)
(August 18, 2005 issue)
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