Jelo Albo punched his ticket to the next round of the men’s singles main draw in the inaugural Philippine International Challenge presented by the Philippine Sports Commission after outlasting Malaysia’s Samuel Lee, 21–18, 21–18, in the Round of 64 on Tuesday at Gameville Central Park in Mandaluyong City.
The incoming fifth-year University of the Philippines standout came out firing with his trademark smashes and held off Lee’s late rally in the opening game to seize the early advantage.
Lee stayed within striking distance in the second set and even carried an 11–9 lead into the interval. But Albo responded by using his reach to control the rallies and dictate the pace, eventually sealing the victory in 49 minutes.
“Sa totoo lang, happy pa rin ako kasi kahit papaano, naitawid ‘yung panalo. Masaya pa rin naman sa performance kahit mahirap siyang laruin,” said Albo, the reigning three-time national men’s singles champion.
“Mas inisip ko na lang na kailangan ako ‘yung mag-dictate ng game, kasi nung second game, nung lumalamang siya, siya ‘yung umaatake. After that, nag-change ako ng playing style na mas tinapangan ko sa harap. Ako dapat mag-dictate ng game at hindi ako sasabay sa game niya,” he added.
Albo will next face the winner between ninth-seeded India’s Siddhanth Gupta and the United States’ Rylan Tan for a place in the Round of 16 of the tournament, backed by the MVP Sports Foundation, Smart, PLDT, Yonex, Sunrise, Maynilad, Cignal, MWell, Jollibee, Milksha, and Telescoop.
Elsewhere in the men’s singles draw, two of the tournament’s top seeds bowed out in stunning upsets.
Indonesia’s Muhamad Rizky Akbar needed just 31 minutes to shock top-seeded and world No. 105 Dmitriy Panarin of Kazakhstan, cruising to a 21–15, 21–6 victory.
Third-seeded Christian Adinata of Indonesia also suffered an early exit, falling to Malaysia’s Wei Xiang Kong, 21–17, 21–10.
(C) PBAD
Earlier in the day, Christel Rei Fuentespina secured her place in the women’s singles main draw by rallying past Malaysia’s Carine Tee, 19–21, 21–15, 21–7.
The 17-year-old joins four-time national champion Mika De Guzman in the Round of 32 and will take on top-seeded Tidaporn Kleebyeesun of Thailand. De Guzman, meanwhile, is set to face another Thai bet, Sarunrak Vitidsran.
In mixed doubles, the pairs of Christian Bernardo and Lea Inlayo, who defeated Malaysia’s Isyraf Hafizin and Lee Jonne, 21–12, 22–20; and Julius Villabrille and Andrea Princess Hernandez, who beat Jan Mark Sotea and Patricia Barredo, 21–16, 21–9, both advanced to the Round of 32 main draw.
Selected matches are available live and free on the PusoP.Com website and app. Fans can also catch the action through the Smart Sports Facebook and YouTube pages, as well as the Pilipinas Live app.
