INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - The quest for supremacy in the Bingo Bonanza Open Badminton Championships fires off Wednesday with international aces providing stiff competition in five events at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

Hong Kong’s Zhou Mi, the world’s No. 2 in women’s singles, leads the the cast of 200 international and local players vying for top honors in the prestigious four-star or Gold event.

Another Hong Kong bet, world No. 10 Chan Yan-kit, and No. 11 Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam are also the men to watch in the 57-entry singles event, along with tournament third seed Lee Tsuen Seng of Malaysia, China’s former world junior champion Cheng Long and Du Pengyu and England’s Andrew Smith.

Zhou heads the 39 contenders in the ladies’ singles and is expected to face tough opposition from China’s Jiang Yanjiao and Singapore’s Xing Aiying and Ming Tian Fu.

Former first lady Amelita “Ming” Ramos, president of the Philippine Badminton Association, will hit the ceremonial serve together with Bingo Bonanza president Albee Benitez.