Top seeds Rabie Oba-ob and Shan Clar opened their respective 2026 MIA Badminton Challenge Cup campaigns in the Men’s Singles Open in sweeping fashion, advancing to the Round of 32 on Monday at the MIA Sports Center in Pasay City.
Oba-ob, the tournament’s top seed and the country’s No. 4-ranked player, needed just 22 minutes to deny Iammai Adiaton an upset, 15–9, 15–2. However, the seasoned veteran admitted that he still had to adjust to the scoring system being used.
“Ok naman performance ko; medyo nanibago lang sa up-to-15 pero pinaghandaan rin naman namin ‘yun. Pero mabilis talaga siyang laruin. Hindi pwede pa-bonjing-bonging, kailangang aggressive talaga,” said the Philippine Air Force airman first class.
“Hindi rin ako masyadong nakapaghanda, kasi nagtuturo rin ako sa mga bata. Pero, I make sure na makapag-train ako kahit one or two days per week,” Oba-ob added.
Meanwhile, incoming University of the Philippines junior Clar protected his half of the draw, overcoming a pair of slow starts to eventually defeat Christian Selga, 15–12, 15–12.
“Ako kasi yung type ng player na more on endurance. Kaya nung nag-switch yung scoring, may pros and cons siya sa ‘kin. Yung cons is hindi ko magagamit yung forte ko talaga na endurance, pero ang pros is mas free yung galaw ko kasi nga yun lang ang goal, maka-15,” said the UAAP Season 87 Rookie of the Year, discussing his adjustments to the faster-paced, race-to-15 scoring format of the Philippine National Ranking System Super 500 tournament.
Oba-ob will face Christian Paderon, who defeated Joey Li, 15–3, 15–0, in the Round of 32 on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
Clar, meanwhile, drew John Kenshin Santos, who dispatched Theo Canlapan, 15–10, 15–10. Their match is scheduled for 2 p.m. on the same day.
(C) MIA Badminton
Elsewhere in the top half of the draw, Joseph Lopez and Aaron Bedaña also secured their places in the Round of 32 in the tournament backed by Rally Sports, JPA Sports, Wilkins Pure, Minute Maid, and Playa de Nubla Private Resort.
Lopez punched his ticket to the next round with a 15–6, 15–3 victory over James Carpina, while Bedaña, an incoming sophomore at the University of Santo Tomas, advanced after sweeping Shane Polayapoy, 15–5, 15–6.
Joining Clar in the bottom half of the Round of 32 are his Fighting Maroons teammates Josh Dupet and Ryan Borgador, while fellow second seed Lennox Cuilao suffered an early exit.
Dupet advanced to the third round at the expense of Joaquin Bato after a thrilling three-setter, 15–6, 11–6, 15–7, while Borgador swept Karn Jit Singh Bhatti, 15–9, 15–5, to book his spot in the next phase.
Clark Brillantes pulled off the biggest upset so far, taking down his UST senior Cuilao, 15–9, 15–5.
In doubles play, the two unseeded UP pairs of Kian Cruz and Arjay Lazareto, and Phoenix Libardo and Enzo Rivera, also secured their places in the Round of 32.
Cruz and Lazareto edged James Bolaño and John Geremie De Luna, 15–8, 15–6, while Libardo and Rivera swept Sheik De Gala and Mohammad Jaldin Dirampaten, 15–9, 15–9.
