The Philippine Badminton Association-Smash Pilipinas national team bagged two golds and two bronzes at the conclusion of the Cameroon International 2022, Sunday at the Yaounde Sports Complex.
The Cameroon International is an annual international badminton event categorized as part of the International Series and has a total prize pool of $10,000.
PBAD vice president Jude Turcuato said, “I am immensely proud of the performance of our national athletes. The results show what our athletes can do, given our support. We vow to join more tournaments in the future for them to gain more exposure and experience. And, hopefully, we could bring more honor and achievements to the country like what we got here in Africa.”
Alvin Morada and Yssa Leonardo took the mixed doubles title after taking care of India’s Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath in three games, 21-19, 18-21, 22-20. Christian Bernardo and Thea Pomar dealt with the bronze after losing the semifinal to the same Indian pair, 17-21, 21-16, 14-21.
Morada and Bernardo took the other gold in the men’s doubles, besting the field consisting of mostly Indian tandems. The Filipinos dominated the final against Dhruv Rawat and Chirag Sen, 21-12, 21-13.
Pomar and Leonardo collected the other bronze medal, exiting in the semifinal of the women’s doubles to eventual champions Srivedya Gurazada and Poorvisha S Ram also of India, 19-21, 14-21.
Single players Mikaela De Guzman and Jewel Angelo Albo were eliminated in earlier rounds.
De Guzman barely missed the podium of the women’s side with a quarterfinal defeat to eventual champion Kasturi Radhakrishnan of Malaysia, 14-21, 21-10, 18-21, while Albo barely missed the men’s main draw with a loss to Chua Kim Sheng, also of Malaysia, 17-21, 17-21, in qualification.
Smash Pilipinas head coach Rosman Razak said, “The players are starting to get the feel of playing continuously, and, hopefully, we will continue to improve and get more success.”
The same players look to replicate this success when they compete at the Benin International 2022 in Atlantique, Benin on September 8-11. The team also has the Indonesia International Series Yogyakarta and Indonesia International Challenge Yogyakarta down the line.