Members of the Philippine national badminton team got the exposure they needed in the Smart Badminton Asia Championships this week at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex in Muntinlupa City.
But they should be joining more pocket tournaments and lower level competitions soon to gain more experience, exposure and points.
Newly appointed national head coach Rosman Razak said this after he watched 19 Filipino shuttlers, who are now training under him, drop out of contention during the early stages of the men’s and women’s divisions.
“They need to start from the lower levels. And we need to start from scratch,” said Razak, who became the mentor of the national squad after Malaysian authorities did not renew his contract at the end of 2020.
Razak believes that the Asian Championship is too strong for the Filipino shuttlers that he is training because the world’s best players are competing in it. His wards are still starting out and most have not played in international meets over the last two years because of the pandemic.
The coaching chores of the national team has changed hands thrice over the last 10 years, with Indonesian badminton legend Rexy Mainaky handling Team Philippines for a year in 2012.
After that, Paulus Firman handled the national team from 2014 to 2018.
Razak said the national squad will now have a chance to work on their respective games when they leave for Hanoi, Vietnam in the days ahead.
“They have been training for just four and a half months. It’s been hard for them. They need to adjust,” added Razak.
The Malaysian coach said he plans to bring them to Futures events and raise their level of play in the coming months.
Meanwhile, world No. 7 and SEA Games 2019 gold medallist Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia came away with a 21-14, 22-20 win against Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia in the men’s singles Round of 16.
Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan in the last eight will be Lee’s next opponent, after the Japanese world No. 14 stopped Tien Mihn Nguyen, 21-9, 21-10.
World no. 5 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia set a quarterfinal encounter against qualifier Weng Hong Yang of China after edging Kenta Nishimoto of Japan, 21-14, 13-21, 21-13.
Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia and Li Shi Feng of China battle to face either 2018 Asian Games champion Jonathan Christie of Indonesia or the reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.
In women’s singles, world No. 13 Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi outlasted Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min, 21-12, 14-21, 21-16, to face world No. 4 An Se-young of South Korea, who earlier won past China’s Zhang Yi Man, 21-7, 21-19.
Defending champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan and world No. 10 Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand set up their own last-eight showdown with wins over Indonesians Komang Ayu Chaya Dewi, 21-23, 21-9, 21-19, and Putri Kusuma Wardani, 21-12, 21-12.