A spectacle unfurls when POWERADE Badminton Cup 2006 brings act to Yonex Badminton Club in Mandaluyong on November 25 the distinguished 2000 Sydney Olympics silver medalist and former world rank number 1, Minarti Timur, together with international badminton stars Lili Wang, Rudy Wijaya and Kwee Tek Ming, as they wrest to share lead in the prestigious tilt in a showdown seldom seen in local badminton.

Minarti, six time Indonesian Open champion and title-holder of international competitions such as Malaysia Open, German Open, Thailand Open, Japan Open, Dutch Open, All England Cup, and World Cup from 1995 to 2002, will play in Mixed Double match in tandem with Rudy Wijaya, former world rank number 5 and 1995 Russian Open title-holder, against Lili Wang and Kwee Tek Ming, former national team members of China and Indonesia, respectively.

In a big gathering of international and local stand-outs vying for the prestigious Powerade jewel with a prize pot of more than one million pesos in cash and badminton products, Philippine team members will grab the limelight on Saturday in Men’s Doubles-Open Category, ditto with Ladies’ and Mixed Doubles Categories of the club-level players.

The top two pairs of the two groups of the Mixed-Open Category held last weekend, topped by RP Jaime Junio/Irene Chiu and Lloyd Escoses/ Casey Ang Siy, and the winners of the Men’s Doubles-club players group will advance in the semi-finals on December 2. All other category winners will storm in the finals on the same day, in the renowned competition backed by Viva Mineral Water, Coca-Cola Light, and Kimoni Philippines , the official racquet sponsor.