ANTIPOLO CITY—Lyrden Laborte cleared two matches in a day to advance to the next round in both the men’s singles and men’s doubles events at the Philippine Badminton Open 2024 on Thursday at the First Pacific Leadership Academy (FPLA) here.
Laborte, a UAAP Season 86 co-MVP, defeated JVMBC’s John Vincent Macabenta in a 21-3, 21-2 victory that, despite the scoreline, lasted for 21 minutes.
He then partnered with fellow Ateneo upstart Charles Bagasbas to secure a 21-11, 21-9 win over Kryzler Villanueva and Zachary Chua of the Bianca Carlos Badminton Academy in the Round of 128 of the men’s doubles event in this Philippine Super 500 tournament supported by Smart, Mizuno, the Philippine Sports Commission, and the MVP Sports Foundation.
“After naman ng UAAP, hindi kami tumigil ng preparation kasi ni-lu-look forward talaga namin ‘tong mga next tournaments,” said the 21-year-old Blue Eagle.
“For me, nu’ng nanalo ako ng MVP, tapos na ‘yon eh. Sa tournament na ‘to kumbaga fresh start, pero it motivates me na pag-igihan at para ma-prove ko sa sarili ko na deserve ko ‘yon.”
Laborte’s day is far from over as the Cebu City native is scheduled to face Jc Clarito in the Round of 64 in singles play later in the day in this competition sponsored by Jollibee, Chowking, and the FPLA.
Fellow UAAP standout and incoming third-year student-athlete Kervin Llanes followed a similar trajectory, winning both of his assignments of the day.
Llanes, a two-time Philippine Intercollegiate champion from the University of the Philippines, began the day with a victory in the Round of 128 of the doubles event with former San Sebastian College-Recolletos standout Rey Angelo Pedron, defeating Jowe Fabunan and Victor Lloren of DGS Apacs Bulacan 21-5, 21-10.
In singles’ play of this meet presented by Maynilad, MWell, and Cignal, the 19-year-old product of St. Roberts International Academy emerged victorious over Kyles Corcuera, 21-12, 21-14.
Reigning men’s singles champion Mark Velasco has yet to step onto the court as both of his prospective opponents in the Round of 128 were no-shows for their scheduled match Wednesday afternoon, resulting in a walkover for the National University and Smash Pilipinas standout in the day’s morning session.
Velasco is hoping to finally get court time when he faces Pradeep Panneerselvam in the Round of 64 later this evening at 6 p.m.
More matches in men’s singles are scheduled later in the evening, while women’s singles action commences thereafter at 6:40 p.m.
The tournament is set to go full throttle on Friday as women’s doubles and mixed doubles are set to join the fray in the same Antipolo venue.
rom 32) in the Olympic rankings, Hoffman will next see action in the Edmonton Invitationals at the Foote Field in Alberta on June 13.
Lowering her time once more will be Hoffman’s priority right before she hopes to compete in the Paris Olympics.
Hoffman said this after she finished fifth in record-breaking fashion again at 55.84 seconds, before a star-studded field in the women’s 400-meter hurdles at the 2024 USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix Athletics at the University of California-Los Angeles’ Drake Stadium recently.
“It was good, solid race, good to stay in the 55’s but hoping to PB at my next race. Gonna take the next 3 weeks to train,” said Hoffman in an interview with the Manila Standard.
Anna Cockrell, who is at no. 6 in the Olympic qualification rankings, took the gold in 53.75 seconds, a new season’s best for her.
No. 5 Andrenette Knight settled for the silver in 54.69 seconds, and no. 25 Cassandra Tate claimed the bronze in 55.02 seconds.
In joining the LA meet, Hoffman’s world rankings shot up from no. 36 to no. 32.
With her recent performances, Hoffman stayed in contention for a Paris Olympics berth as she climbed to no. 28 after also joining the ICTSI-Philippine Athletics Championships two weeks ago.
