Alvin Morada and Christian Bernardo cleared their first hurdle, beating South Africa’s Jarred Elliott and Robert Summers, 21-17, 21-13, in the men’s doubles of the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2023 Monday at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The match was tight and exciting early on before Morada and Bernardo, currently ranked 46th in the world, pressed their attack, shattering a 12-all count to gain the initiative.
The second set proved to be a breeze as Morada and Bernardo exploited the defensive vulnerabilities of the reigning All Africa Badminton champions, racing to a commanding 11-3 lead.
The South Africans never recovered from that jolt.
The dynamic Smash Pilipinas bets, however, need to raise their game a notch higher as they are set to face the ninth-seeded South Koreans Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Sung Jae in the next round.
The Koreans received byes into the Round of 32.
Morada is poised to return to the action on Tuesday evening (Philippine time) with the aim of replicating this victory in the mixed doubles category, this time partnering with Alyssa Leonardo.
The Filipino pair will go head-to-head against Hong Kong’s Chung Man Tang and Ying Suet Tse in a bid to secure a place in the second round.
