OPENING-DAY SALVO
Kennevic Asuncion, two other Filipinos tally wins
By Zenaida Dadacay
Correspondent

The Philippines gave the home crowd something to cheer about after Kennevic Asuncion and women’s players Irene Chiu and Karyn Velez won in straight sets in the Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open yesterday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
       Asuncion, the most highly touted Filipino player, made short work of Lo Ion Wong of Macau, 21-6, 21-13, and gave the country its lone victory on the men’s side on opening day.
       Chiu also hardly broke a sweat in trouncing Si Pui Pun also of Macau, 21-5, 21-4, while Velez showed no nerves and no mercy in beating Iman Lao of China-Macau, 21-12, 21-9, to march into the round of 16.
       The 21-year-old Chiu switched to attack mode as early in the first set by unleashing her crisp smashes and quick drops to lead at 14-2. The Ateneo badminton standout displayed the same intensity in the next set en route to posting her first win.
       “It wasn’t an easy win,” said Chiu, a Legal Management graduate. “I played hard and minimize my mistakes dahil konting mali ko lang alam ko mahihirapan na akong makahabol dahil rallying system na ngayon.”
       Chiu, who reached the quarterfinals in the doubles event in the Southeast Asian Games last year, next faces a heavy opponent in top seed and World No. 4 Xu Huaiwen of Germany in the next round tonight.
       The 31-year-old ace from Guiyang, China now based in Germany won the Swiss Open crown last January and the European Championship last month. She also won four straight titles last year—the Dutch Open, Bitburger Open, Finland World Grand Prix and the Belgian International.
       Velez, in her first time to play in a foreign-flavored competition, hopes she can sustain her momentum when she meets Anu Nieminen of Finland in the other “round of 16” matches.
       Other men’s bets weren’t fortunate with Wilson Frias, Owen Lopez, and Rodel Bartolome bowing easily to foreign competition.
       The Philippines also suffered a blow in mixed doubles as partners Alfredo Mailon and Therese Chan lost, 9-21, 12-21, at the hands of the Japanese duo of Ikue Tatani and Yusuke Shinkai.
       Other local bets raring to see action in the men’s singles are Wally Fernandez, Arolas Amahit, Jaime Junio, Kelvin Ang, Christopher Flores, Ben Jonas Garcia.
       Among the early winners were in the juniors’ division which include India’s Saina Nehwal (who upset No. 6 seed Sutheaswari Muduksan of Malaysia, 21-12, 21-19) and Sayali Gokhale (who won over No. 5 seed Anna Rice of Canada, 16-21, 22-20, 21-16).
       Both Indian players advanced to the next round.