In today’s group playoffs at the 2009 world badminton mixed team championships, also called the Sudirman Cup tournament, currently underway in Guangzhou, China, the Philippine team came back from the brink of defeat and edged Portugal in a nail-biting team contest 3 matches to 2. With the victory, the Philippines finished their debut campaign in the Sudirman Cup in third place in Group 4 (equivalent to Level C in Philippine badminton competitions), seven places better than when they started the competition.

Unlike the previous matches when the order of matches had the mixed doubles being played first, the Philippines encounter with Portugal began with the men’s singles, followed by the women’s singles, the men’s doubles, the women’s doubles and lastly the mixed doubles. The change in order of play was made necessary because some of the players on both sides were playing in two matches and tournament rules required that these players have at least 15 minutes of rest between matches.

The order of play was in Portugal’s favor early with international rookies Benjie Gadi facing the experienced Pedro Martins in the men’s singles and Malvinne Alcala playing Telma Santos in the women’s singles.

Martins defeated the youthful Gadi 21-16 and 21-17 while Santos disposed of Alcala 21-15 and 21-15 to put the Portuguese 2 matches up and only a match away from the group third place ranking.

However, the Philippines had former world top-16 players Kennevic Asuncion and Kennie Asuncion in their line-up for the next three matches.

In the men’s doubles, Kennevic Asuncion and rookie Paul Vivas were outplayed in the late stages of the first game by Pedro Martins and Fernando Silva. The Portuguese managed to break away from the Philippine players after a 14-all tie and took the opener 21-16. Asuncion took control of the play in the second. Asuncion together with Vivas out-smashed Martins and Silva and also outplayed the Portuguese at the net to win the second 21-13. In the decider, Asuncion and Vivas took an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, despite two surges by the Portuguese at 9-all and 12-all. They once again out-smashed the Portuguese and combined their power shots with good net play as well as deceptive strokes that wrong-footed Martins and Silva. Asuncion and Vivas won the third game 21-16 to pull the Philippines back from the brink of defeat.

Next up was Kennie Asuncion and Gelita Castilo against Ana Moura and Helena Pestana in the women’s doubles.

The first game was nip and tuck. Asuncion and Castilo fell behind briefly at the start but came back strongly to take a small lead at 4-3. The two pairs then fought evenly and were tied 18-all and then 19-all. The Portuguese got to game point first 20-19. Asuncion and Castilo managed to fight off the game point and pulled even at 20-all. The Philippine players then took the next two rallies to win the opener 22-20.

In the second, the Portuguese made error after error and allowed the Philippine pair to break away after 6-all and then to win 21-12.

The team contest was now all even at 2 matches apiece.

The final match was the mixed doubles, Kennevic and Kennie Asuncion’s specialty where they were once world-ranked in the lofty top-16s. Facing the Asuncions for Portugal were Hugo Rodriguez and Telma Santos.

In the first game, the Asuncions  and the Portuguese swapped leads early on until 5-all when the Philippine players began to assert control of the play with some strong smashing as well as well-placed shots that resulted in Portuguese mistakes. The Asuncions then went on to win the opener 21-15.

The second was much like the first. After some good early play, the Portuguese fell behind as the Asuncion smashes once again found the floor in the Portuguese end again and again. Kennevic and Kennie Asuncion had no problems with the Portuguese after a 4-all tie and easily pulled away to win 21-11.

The Philippine players rejoiced after the Asuncions had scored the match point. They had won third place in Group 4, seven places better than the badminton world had given them credit for when the tournament started.

In Group 1 competition, the teams remaining in contention for the title, host China, Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia all had rest days to prepare for tomorrow’s semifinal encounters. Denmark and England faced each other in a playoff for fifth place; the Danes prevailed over England 3 matches to 2.

The bottom-dwellers in Group 1, Hong Kong and Japan, tangled in a do-or-die contest to see who would stay in Group 1 for the next Sudirman Cup. Japan beat Hong Kong 3 matches to 1. As a result, Hong Kong got demoted to Group 2.

(In the Sudirman Cup, only the teams in Group 1 sub-groups 1A and 1B compete for the world title. Group 1 sub-groups 1A and 1B are similar to the Open level in a Philippine badminton tournament. Teams in the lower sub-groups like 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A and 4B, which are similar to Level A, B and C in Philippine badminton events, only compete for rankings and for promotion to play at the next level at the 2011 world mixed team championships).

Following are the team-by-team results in today’s contests:

Afternoon Session:

Group 4 - Play Off for Third Place - Philippines beat Portugal 3 matches to 2
Group 2 - Play Off for Fifth Place - Germany beat Netherlands 3-0 
Group 2 - Play Off for Third Place - Chinese Taipei beat Singapore 3-1
Group 2 - Play Off for First Place - Thailand beat Russia 3-0 - (Thailand wins promotion to Group 1 for the next Sudirman Cup))
Group 2 - Play Off for Seventh Place - France lost to Poland 0-3 - (France drops down to Group 3 for the next Sudirman Cup)
Group 4 - Play Off for Seventh Place - Turkey lost to Sri Lanka 1-3

Evening Session:

Group 4 - Play Off for First Place - Switzerland beat Lithuania 3-1 - (Switzerland wins promotion to Group 3 for the next Sudirman Cup)
Group 1 - Play Off for Seventh Place - Hong Kong lost to Japan 1-3 - (Hong Kong drops down to Group 2 for the next Sudirman Cup)
Group 1 - Play Off for Fifth Place - Denmark beat England 3-2
Group 4 - Play Off for Fifth Place - South Africa lost to Iceland 0-3
Group 4 - Play Off for Ninth Place - Luxembourg beat Mongolia 3-1