The national badminton team grabbed two gold and two bronze medals in the Cameroon International 2022 on Sunday, 4 September at the Yaoundé Multi-Purpose Sports Complex in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Alvin Morada and Yssa Leonardo pocketed the mixed doubles title after beating Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath of India in three games, 21-19, 18-21, 22-20, while Christian Bernardo and Thea Pomar settled for bronze after losing in the semifinal to the same Indian pair, 17-21, 21-16, 14-21.
Morada and Bernardo also took the other gold in the men’s doubles, besting the field consisting of mostly Indian tandems. They 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.
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.
Philippine Badminton Federation vice president Jude Turcuato was elated over the performance of his wards, saying that they will definitely join more tournaments to prepare them for major tourneys like the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games.
“I am immensely proud of the performance of our national athletes,” Turcuato said.
“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.”
“Hopefully, we could bring more honor and achievements to the country like what we got here in Africa.”
The national shuttlers seek to replicate this success when they compete at the Benin International 2022 in Atlantique, Benin from 8 to 11 September.
They will also see action in the Indonesia International Series Yogyakarta and Indonesia International Challenge Yogyakarta.
