The Final Score: What Mr. Badminton thinks of Azkal-mania

We are in room without a view. Moments away from providing on-air annotation for another world-class badminton tournament. Just one day after the Philippine Azkals returned to the pitch. Just a millennium since badminton took over every available warehouse in the city. I sit across Kennevic Asuncion. He is still Mr. Badminton. Even when ex-"baddicts" have kept most of their titanium rackets and gum-sole shoes in storage. Even if once-bustling badminton hubs are back to being warehouses. Even when he hears about the Azkals (he didn't watch the night before) and imagines what badminton can be. "I've never seen the Azkals play," Kennevic admits. "But I hear about them all the time, watch them on the news. It's good for Filipinos. If they continue to do good and do better abroad, mahahatak lahat. More Filipinos will play football. Pero my fear din ako. Na 'pag 'di iningatan, pwede mawala." Kennevic remembers how the badminton craze started. Around 2004. He wants to forget how it all ended. Late 2008. But can't. Look, the sport isn't dead. Far from it. But you know what I mean. How badminton centers once mimicked shopping malls during midnight madness. How we once spotted people walking on sidewalks with badminton rackets sticking out of their backpacks. How badminton superstars from different continents used to play in Manila. How Kennevic was once the ambassador of a raging sport. Today, he's still an ambassador, can't name anyone else who can upstage him at this point outside of well-known sister and doubles-partner Kennie. But his own sport needs a boost to become the rage again. "Badminton needs stronger local tournaments," Kennevic suggests. "You have to be strong first locally. Strong local tournaments help players prepare for actual international exposure. For actual competition." In July, Kennevic will oversee the third leg of the MVP Sports Foundation-Bingo Bonanza tournament in Davao. They completed the Manila Leg in March and the Bacolod Leg back in May. See, the sport isn't dead. He says it's clearly the biggest nationwide tournament since...uhm, ever. He says it's designed to find talent from the provinces. It's designed to encourage players to train, to give players a compelling reason to play badminton again, to discover new stars for the Philippine team, to create badminton's own version of Azkal-mania. "Encouraged kami because the players are exerting more effort," Kennevic, after examining the results of the first two legs, shares. "Naririnig namin na players are excited to train again. That's a good sign for everybody." Kennevic is only 31. He's semi-retired. But who knows if a resurgence can push him to compete again. Here in a room without a view, he daydreams about what badminton was and what it could've been. He understands why Phil Younghusband is on billboards along EDSA and why the Azkals are top-of-mind. "Hindi ako naiinggit," Kennevic says. "Nasasayangan lang ako kasi ganun ang badminton dati. Hindi lang natin naalagaan." -- GMA News