For the second straight year, Smart is once again supporting the Prima Pasta Badminton Championships, the first in four tournaments this year that will be part of the Philippine National Ranking System (PNRS).
Smart’s support for the annual Prima Pasta tournament is part of its commitment to promote sports in the Philippines, especially for the youth and grassroots levels. Even Smart’s chairman, Manny V. Pangilinan, is an avid player of Badminton.
“Every year this has been special for us, not only for Smart, but for chairman MVP who is an avid follower of the sport,” added head of Smart Sports, Christopher Quimpo.
Now on its eighth year, the Prima Pasta tournament has turned out to be one of the most successful badminton tournaments in the Philippines. With around 1,800 participants in last year’s Prima Pasta tournament, Alex Lim, president of Prima Pasta, is positive that this year will be just as successful.
“We are inviting everyone who is a Badminton aficionado to participate in this tournament. I think this is one of its kind in the country that covers everyone,” said Lim.
For the first time, Prima Pasta will have an 11-and-under group division to accommodate younger participants in the tournament. Despite being open to athletes of all ages, however, Alex Lim believes that the competition will remain at an elite level.
“We’re proud to say that the people who join the tournament are very high leveled, highly skilled players, so even if we have level G now, none of them are actually beginners anymore, so it’s going to be a very competitive tournament,” quipped Alex Lim.
He added, “the level of competition is really high. The best of the best of different universities, including those who are part of the national teams nandun lahat sa iba’t-ibang division.”
Athletes from different universities will be competing in the tournament as well. To name a few, the uber tandem of Joper Escueta and Gabriel Magnaye from National University and Carlos Cayanan of De La Salle University will be participating in the Men’s division, while FEU’s Thea Pomar, Jessie Francisco from University of the Philippines, and Janelle De Vera from Ateneo will be present in the Female’s division.
With over Php 800,000 at stake, the tournament is sure to bring out the best in its participants. The tournament kicks off on February 28, at the Power Smash Badminton center, with matches also being held on March 1, 6, 7, and 8. For those interested, you can register for the tournament at www.primapastaopen.com.
