ANTIPOLO CITY — Top seed Rabie Jayson Oba-ob opened his title bid at the Philippine Badminton Open 2024 in style with a rousing 21-16, 21-8 victory in the Round of 128 of the men’s singles event against Kirk Nathan Abarquez on Wednesday at the First Pacific Leadership Academy (FPLA) here.
Oba-ob, who hails from Zamboanga City and represents the Philippine Air Force, needed just 29 minutes to defeat the De La Salle University recruit Abarquez.
He had to pull off a huge comeback after being down 3-11 at the first interval in this Philippine Super 500 tournament, which is backed by Smart, Mizuno, the Philippine Sports Commission, and the MVP Sports Foundation.
“Nag-prepare naman po ako for this tournament pero no pressure naman po sa ‘kin. One reason na no pressure is wala naman na po ako sa national team. I just gave my best po,” said the 31-year-old National University product.
The erstwhile national squad standout will take on University of San Carlos’ Luis Bernie Comiso, who fashioned out a dominant 21-18, 21-9 decision over Mega Smasher’s Liam Johan Cack in the Round of 64 when the week-long tilt sponsored by Jollibee, Chowking, and FPLA resumes action on Thursday.
Elsewhere in this top half, UAAP standouts Jelo Albo of the University of the Philippines and Lance Vargas of Ateneo de Manila University will compete for a place in the Round of 64 later in the day.
On the other side of the bracket, reigning champion Mark Velasco of Smash Pilipinas will begin his title defense the following day at 10:40 AM against either Rodolfo Rodin Kean Gaminde or Tristan Troy Magango.
Also in Velasco’s half, John Christian Yabut, a former University of Santo Tomas shuttler, will stake his status as the tournament’s fourth seed on Thursday when he faces JVMBC’s Jamil Arend Del Rosario, a two-set victor over SIMBC’s Joshua Martinez, 21-10, 21-5.
Action in the men’s doubles and women’s singles competitions, also presented by Maynilad, MWell, and Cignal, starts Thursday at the same Antipolo venue.
