After SEA Games, Philippine hosts Asian badminton

MANILA, Philippines — The best shuttlers in the region will converge in the Philippines next month for the 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships. 

Almost 300 players will vie in the event that will serve as one of the qualifiers to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, according to Badminton Asia COO Chit Boon Saw. 

The tourney will run from Feb. 11 to 16 at the refurbished Rizal Memorial Coliseum that housed some of the sports in the just-concluded 30th SEA Games. 

The Philippines last hosted an Asian badminton tournament in 2001. 

A total of 29 teams – 15 in men’s and 14 in women’s – will battle it out for Asian supremacy, leading up to the Thomas (men’s) and Uber (women’s) Cups slated in Denmark this May.

Indonesia, always a force to reckon with in the region, is the reigning men’s division champion while Japan is the defending champion in the women’s side. 

The teams will be bracketed into two groups with the top two squads progressing into the knockout semis. Tournament format calls for a best-of-five duel (three singles and two doubles matches). 

This Asian tilt is the latest international event the country is staging after hosting the SEA Games and securing the rights to hold the 2020 Asian Swimming Championships at the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac in November. 

The country will also bid to host Asian Skateboarding Championships this summer. 

The Philippines won the overall crown it the last SEA Games.