ABOUT 800 players are expected to see action in the second edition of the Go! Badminton Tournament sponsored by Eastern Communications on February 27 and 28 at the Powersmash badminton courts in Makati.
The tournament will be divided into seven divisions with varsity players, trainers and national team standouts entered in Category O, said Alex Salud, director of Product Management and Development of Eastern Communications, during a sportwriters forum recently.
"We are very excited to bring the 2nd Go Badminton Tournament to all badminton enthusiasts. We know how popular this sport is to a lot of people and we are expecting more players to join this year," he added.
Salud said they increased the size of the field to 800 players after their initial tournament in 2007 attracted 700 participants.
The company is adding a technological touch to the tournament with IP cameras installed in four courts to pave the way for matches to be shown live on the Internet, said Bobby Ferriols, Eastern Communications' site acquisition manager.
PWBL season opens Sunday at Metro gym
The participating teams are Northern Samar-backed Adamson, Cebuana Lhuillier-Far Eastern University, University of Santo Tomas-Global Graphics, Philippine Maritime Institute (PMI), Lyceum-Jaguars, Army of Col. Buenaventura Pascual, RP team-I-Remit and Pascual-Lagundi.
The Lady Tamaraws will collide against Army at 1 p.m. while the reigning UAAP basket queens, the Lady Falcons faces I-Remit at 2:30 p.m.
Clashing at 4 p.m. are UST and Lyceum-Jaguars while Pascual-Lagundi tangles with PMI at 5:30 p.m.
The event was organized through Local Water Utilities Administration chairman Prospero "Butch" Pichay and Governor Casimiro "Jun-Jun" Ynares of Rizal.
Also backing the tournament under PWBL commissioner Nilo Fernandez are LWUA, Burlington Phils., BioFresh, Wilson, Everlast, Foton, Moldex, Atlanta, Nation, GSIS, Pagcor, PCSO, Northern Samar, Asics shoes and Molten. (Virgil Lopez)