Friday opening for Yonex-Sunrise badminton tourney

MANILA, Philippines – The country's top collegiate badminton players will vie for top honors in the Yonex-Sunrise Valencia Anniversary Badminton Tournament starting Friday at the Valencia Sports Center in Gilmore, Quezon City. Leading the cast of competitors in the men's division are last year's Universities Athletics Association of the Philippines (UUAP) most valuable player (MVP) Winston Aquilo of University of the East and rookie of the year awardee R-Jay Ormilla of University of Santo Tomas. In the women's division, seeing action are national mainstays Racquel Guerrero of UE, UAAP MVP Bianca Legaspi of University of the Philippines, Far Eastern University’s Diosan Abangan and UST's Therine Chan. “This will be an exciting match up as some of the country’s promising players are here to pit against each other. The tournament has always been a venue to scout talent to fill up slots in the training and developmental pool," said Philippine Badminton Association (PBA) first vice president Errol Chan. Medals are at stake in the men’s and mixed doubles with classes from A to F. In the age groups 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 under divisions, events are in doubles, singles and mixed events. – Perry Legaspi, GMANews.TV