By Romeo Braceros Jr.

Photo: MEGA Smasher

At the Iran Badminton Federation Sports Hall in Tehran on Sunday, the Filipino team of Christian Bernardo and Alvin Morada put up a solid performance to defeat an Indonesian pair and win the 2023 Iran Fajr International Challenge.

The gold medal match of this tournament, which serves as an exposure event for the 32nd Southeast Asian Games, was won by Bernardo and Morada over Raymond Indra and Daniel Edgar Marvino of Indonesia by scores of 21-16 and 21-17. Bernardo and Morada were only excellent in this regard.

According to Epok Quimpo, secretary general of the Philippine Badminton Association, the triumph lifted the Filipinos' spirits going into the biennial competition, which will take place in Cambodia from May 5 to 17.

Quimpo stated that he was encouraged by the victory and felt confident about their chances in the upcoming biannual meet.

The Chinese duo of Xiodong Sheng and Hing Long Wong were easily defeated by the Filipino tandem, 21-15, 26-24, in Round 32. In the Round of 16, they defeated Arshia Amalkonande and Ali Hayati of Iran, 20-22, 21-16, and 21-13.

The Filipino team then defeated Jimmy Wong and Lwi Sheng Hao of Malaysia in the quarterfinals, 19-21, 21-15, and 21-14, before defeating Teges Satriaji Cahyo Hutomo and Christopher David Wijaya of Indonesia in the semifinals, 21-14, and 23-21, to advance to the gold medal match.

Quimpo expects the team to be motivated by Bernardo and Morada's victory to train harder and perform better at the forthcoming SEA Games.