INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine badminton team downed Portugal, 3-2, to finish third in Group 4 of the prestigious Sudirman Cup held in Guangzhou, China recently.

After losing the first two singles in the best-of-five tie, the Filipinos pulled through with three victories in the doubles behind siblings Kennie and Kennevic Asuncion.

Kennevic first teamed up with Ronel Estanislao to beat Pedro Martins and Fernando Silva, 16-21, 21-13, 21-16, in men’s doubles while Kennie and rookie Gelita Castillo struck in the women’s doubles by downing Ana Moura and Helena Pestana, 22-20, 21-11.

The Asuncions sealed the deal by imposing their might over Hugo Rodriguez and Telma Santos, 21-15, 21-11, in 20 minutes in mixed doubles.

Portugal’s Pedro Martins drew first blood when he slipped past Antonio Benjamin Gadi, 16-21, 17-21, in 29 minutes in the men's singles. Malvinne Ann Alcala then bowed to veteran Telma Santos, 15-21, 15-21, in 25 minutes in the women's singles.

The country also scored wins over South Africa, Luxemburg and Turkey, but bowed to Switzerland, which climbed to Group 3 after beating Lithuania.

Marc Anthony Reyes