SHUTTLERS Paul Jefferson Vivas and Peter Gabriel Magnaye will bring the confidence of their recent victory in the international stage to the 28th Southeast Asian Games.
The power-smashing duo led the Philippines to the 2015 Sudirman Cup Badminton World Team Championship Group 4 title recently in Dongguan, China.
Vivas and Magnaye, the country’s brightest hopes for a doubles medal in the Singapore SEAG on June 5 to 16, also pocketed the men’s doubles crown of the Swiss International Badminton Championship in Yverdon-Les-Bains, Switzerland, late last year.
The tandem of Philip Joper Escueta and Ronel Estanislao and women’s doubles pairs Eleanor Christine Inlayo-Alyssa Ysabel Leonardo and Anna Patricia Barredo-Thea Marie Pomar also saw action.
The Smash Pilipinas shuttlers defeated Iceland, 4-1, and subdued Nigeria, 5-0, in the preliminary round. They demolished Sri Lanka, 3-0, in the finals.
“This victory serves as a great exposure going into the SEA Games,” said the team’s Indonesian coach Paulus Firman.