Philippines shuttlers wiped out in Badminton Asia joust

MANILA, Philippines — Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun  shut the door on the Philippines’ Paul John Pantig and Christian Bernardo, 21-7, 21-12, to end the hosts’ stint in the Smart Badminton Asia Championships yesterday in Muntinlupa.

The Malaysians pounced on their superior all-around skills to create separation from Pantig and Bernardo, who did all they could in the men’s doubles Round-of-16 match with a good-sized home crowd at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex rallying them on.

Ultimately, the more seasoned Man and Tee got the job done after 23 minutes and sent off the last Pinoy bets standing in the World Super Tour 1000-level tournament.

Pantig and Bernardo admitted there’s still a lot to work on after playing their first international meet as partners.

“Malaki talaga ang kailangan pang i-adjust especially sa patience sa bola, variety of shots and placing,” said Pantig.

The Philippine duo, who advanced to the second round following the withdrawal of Korea’s seventh seeds Choi Sogyu and Seo Seungjae, got a good sampling of the competition that awaits them in the Southeast Asian Games.

“Magandang experience ito para makita namin kung nasaan na kami versus yung capabilities ng mga makakalaban namin sa SEA Games,” said Pantig.

The Filipino duo had their best moments of the match when they racked up four straight points on two well-placed shots by Pantig and a couple of Malaysian errors to transform a 9-1 contest into a 9-5 affair. Man and Tee, however, launched a fiery counter-attack and held the Pinoys to only two more points to run away with the opening-set win.

The home bets trailed by a manageable 13-10 in the second before the Malaysians pulled away for good with a strong finishing kick for a place in the quarterfinals.

The elimination of Pantig and Bernardo made it a purely all-foreign show in the last three days of the action.

Meanwhile, India’s Pusarla Sindhu and Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo led the march of quarterfinalists in the singles events.

Sindhu, the world No. 7, eked out a 21-16, 21-16 win over Singapore’s Yue Jaslyn Hool to arrange a Last-8 meeting with China’s world No. 9 He Bing Jao, who advanced via an 18-21, 21-13, 21-13 disposal of Japan’s Ohori Aya.

Wardoyo followed up his upset of Japan’s top seed  Kento Momota with a 21-19, 22-20 victory over Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu for a quarters seat versus China’s Li Shi Feng, a 22-20, 23-21 victor over Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei.