The Philippines national badminton team (
Filipino: Pambansang koponan ng badminton ng Pilipinas) represents the
Philippines in international
badminton competitions.[2] It is controlled by the
Philippine Badminton Association. Nicknamed Smash Pilipinas, The Filipino team won bronze in the men's and women's team events at the
Southeast Asian Games, in 1987 and 1981 respectively.
History
Badminton has been played in the Philippines since the
1920s when
British and
American expatriates introduced the sport to the country.[3] The national team was formed after the establishment of the
Philippine Badminton Association in 1952. The Philippines made a couple of appearances at the
Sudirman Cup in the 2010s.
In 2023, Indonesian coach Chafidz Yusuf was appointed as the doubles coach for the national team.[4]
Men's team
The Philippines men's team first competed in the qualifiers for the
1984 Thomas Cup. The team were drawn with
Hong Kong,
Australia and
Singapore and lost all of their matches in the group tie. Three years later, the Philippines competed in the
1987 Southeast Asian Games, where the team entered the semifinals for a guaranteed bronze medal but lost 3–0 to
Malaysia.[5] In 1992, the Philippines failed to qualify for the
1992 Thomas Cup after losing 4–1 to
Pakistan, 5–0 to
India and
Singapore in the first stage of the qualifiers.[6] In 1997, the Philippines lost the third place tie to
Thailand at the
Southeast Asian Games.[7] In 1998, The Philippines tried to qualify for the
1998 Thomas Cup. The team shown improvement as they lost 4–1 to
Singapore, 3–2 to
Australia and won 5–0 against
Iran.[6]
The Philippines men's team made their
Badminton Asia Team Championships debut in
2016. The team lost 5–0 to
South Korea and 4–1 to
Hong Kong and were eliminated in the group stages. They made their second appearance at the Asian Team Championships in
2018 and were eliminated in the group stages. The men's team made history when the team beat arch rival Singapore 3–2 to reach the quarterfinals in the
2020 edition of the championships.[8] The team lost to
Indonesia 3–0 in the quarter-finals.[9]
Women's team
The Philippines women's team debuted at the
1981 Southeast Asian Games and entered the semifinals to claim bronze.[10] Ten years later, the women's team entered their second semifinal at the
1991 Southeast Asian Games and finished in fourth place. In 1992, the Philippines competed in the
1992 Uber Cup qualifiers. The team lost 5–0 to
New Zealand and
Hong Kong but won 5–0 against
Tanzania to finish 3rd in the group.[11] In 1998, the Philippines women's team failed to qualify again for the
Uber Cup. Much like the men's team, the women's team lost 4–1 to
Singapore and 3–2 to
Australia but won 4–1 against
Mauritius.[11]
The women's team debuted in the
Badminton Asia Team Championships in 2018. They were eliminated in the group stages in 2018 and 2020. In 2023, the Philippines women's team competed in the
2023 Southeast Asian Games women's team event in
Phnom Penh. In the quarter-finals, the team pulled off a big upset after defeating the
Malaysian women's team 3–0 and entered the semi-finalists once again after 42 years.[12] In the semi-finals, the team went up against
Indonesia but lost 3–0 to win bronze.[13]
^In the
2023 SEA Games mixed team event, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines were all restricted from entering the competition.