By CHRISTINE MONCADA
ON paper, Kennevic and Kennie Asuncion’s bid for a berth in
the coming Beijing Olympics has gone from lean to far-fetched.
The country’s No. 1 mixed doubles pair and RP’s best hope to
have a representative in badminton in the quadrennial event slipped a notch
lower in the world ranking after a dismal showing in the Asia Badminton
Championships last April 15-20 in Johor Bharu, Malaysia .
The Asuncions suffered a first round 20-22, 16-21 loss to
Singaporean Henri Kurniawa Saputra and Yujia Li in the competition that was
their last chance to jack their ranking.
Now, the brother-sister duo dropped to No. 26, further
imperiling its chance to make the Olympic grade.
But the Asuncions are not losing hope.
"We’re a little disheartened but we gave it our best shot.
Now all we can do is wait for the announcement of the federation," said Kennevic.
The Olympic Qualifying period for badminton is from May 1,
2007 to April 30, 2008. The Badminton World Federation World Ranking list of May
1, 2008 will be used to determine who will be invited to compete in the five
events in the Beijing Games.
The BWF will take in 38 placers in the men’s and women’s
singles event and 32 places or 16 pairs in the men’s doubles, women’s doubles
and mixed doubles competitions.
However, the BWF has also indicated that the maximum number
of players per National Olympic Committee shall be three entries in each of the
five events.
"Sana nga puwede pa. Ang chance na lang namin ay kung sumobra
sa regulated number of players ang nag-qualify sa isang bansa," added Kennevic.
The BWF is expected to announce the Beijing Olympic qualifiers in the next
two weeks. The Beijing Games is slated August 8-24 and the badminton competition
is scheduled Aug. 9-17.
