The Philippine national badminton team gave it everything before seeing its 2026 BWF World Championships campaign come to an end on Monday at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi, India.
Making his World Championships debut, Clarence Villaflor showed flashes of promise against a far more experienced opponent but ultimately fell to Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chien, 21–12, 21–12, in the opening round of the men’s singles draw.
Villaflor, the Philippine Badminton National Open silver medalist, took the early initiative in both games, but the current World Tour leader eventually found his rhythm and exposed openings to pull away.
(C) PBAD
Mika De Guzman also put up a fight against Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani, keeping the current world No. 6 within reach early in the opening game before the Indonesian pulled away for a 21–12, 21–6 victory.
(C) PBAD
In men’s doubles, Julius Villabrille and Solomon Padiz Jr. likewise saw their campaign cut short, falling to Singapore’s Donovan Wee and Jia Hao Howin Wong, 21–19, 21–11.
With the defeats, all three Philippine entries were eliminated from the tournament.
