By: Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Philippine shuttlers Peter Gabriel Magnaye and Thea Marie Pomar grabbed the 2019 Sydney International Badminton mixed doubles title by dispatching heavyweights Oliver Leydon-Davis and Anona Pak of New Zealand in straight sets, 21-9, 21-9.
The PH pairing immediately made their presence felt by upsetting sixth-seeded Michael Soon How Lim and Victoria He, 21-13,21-13 in their first match of the tourney.
Following the convincing win against the sixth-seeded Australians, Magnaye and Pomar took down Ming Chuen Lim and Yingzi Jiang, 21-15,21-17 to set up a showdown with the first ranked pair in Po Li-Wei and Yu Chien Hui.
Taiwanese’s Wei and Hui suffered a crushing defeat from the Filipinos in straight sets, 21-13,21-11.
The championship experience that the pair had in Australia will only help propel themselves going into the Southeast Asian Games.
Before the tournament, the pair already had an intensive training camp in Indonesia, grinding it out for 3 months to reach their desired form before the SEA games.
