The Philippines today whipped African continental champions South Africa 4 matches to 1 in one of today’s opening encounters at the 2009 badminton world team championships being held in Guangzhou, China, and told the badminton world that they were better than the bottom ranking that they had been given.

The internationally experienced mixed doubles pair of Kennevic and Kennie Asuncion started the Philippines off with an easy 2-game victory over Dorian James and Annari Viljoen. The Asuncions took the first set 21-13, banking heavily on good net play. In the second set, mistakes undid the South Africans and allowed the Philippine mixed doubles tandem to take the game 21-15. The Philippines were now ahead of the African champions 1 match to none.

Benjie Gadi then defeated Jacob Amakiel in the men’s singles match 21-12 and 21-6. Gadi used his strong and well-placed smashes to pull away to substantial leads in both games with Amakiel not able to put up a good defense against the Philippine player’s power. Gadi’s victory gave the Philippines a 2-0 lead in matches.

In the following men’s doubles match, South African Olympians Chris and Rolf Dednam used their experience and heavy smashing to fend off Paul Vivas and Ronel Estanislao in the first game 21-17. The Philippine men’s doubles combo made a fight of it in the early part of the second game to trail by only 2 at the mid-game interval 9-11. However, the South Africans made good use of their smashing ability and pulled away to victory 21-12. The Dednam win put the team scoring at 2-1, the Philippines still ahead.

Malvinne Ann Alcala then faced Stacey Doubell in the women’s singles encounter. Alcala controlled the early going in the first game with good net play and then finished Doubell off 21-8 on the South African’s many mistakes. In the second game, it was the Philippine player’s turn to make mistakes and she fell behind the South African 8-11. After the mid-game interval, Alcala fought back and with some good net play took the lead at 16-15. Doubell tried to battle back but was undone by erratic play. This allowed Alcala to reach match point at 20-17. Alcala then put the South African hopes away with a nice deceptive shot to win 21-17. Alcala’s win over Doubell clinched the team contest for the Philippines 3 matches to 1.

While the last match, the women’s doubles, had no bearing in the team contest, it still had some importance as part of a potential tie-breaker in case teams were tied in the standings after the round-robin. Karyn Velez and Gelita Castilo of the Philippines were easy winners in the first game, combining smashes and net winners to whip the South African pair of Michelle Edwards and Annari Viljoen 21-13. Edwards and Viljoen fought back in the second and seemingly were on the way to forcing a decider. The South Africans took an early 6-3 lead on well-placed smashes and had a 5 point advantage at the mid-game interval. After the break, Velez and Castilo picked up their play and managed to pull even at 12-all. The two pairs then fought evenly until 17-all when the Philippine pair was able to pull away and reach match point at 20-17. Edwards and Viljoen though were not done; the South Africans clawed their way back to force deuce at 20-all and even took the lead at 22-21. The Philippine pair fought off the South African game point and then scored on a nice net shot to lead at 23-22. Velez and Castilo then finished the South Africans off in the next rally, winning it with a smash to end the game 24-22.

Next up for the Philippine team tomorrow afternoon is Switzerland, the top-seed in their sub-group (4A which is similar to level C in Philippine tournaments – sub-groups 1A and 1B being akin to the Open level, 2A and 2B level A and 3A and 3B level B).