By Romy Galvez

MUHARRAQ, Bahrain — The Desert Smashers Club (DSC) of Al-Khobar participated for the fourth time in the PBG Open Doubles Badminton Tournament at the Muharraq Sports Club in Bahrain recently.

In spite of difficulties in obtaining visas, arranging transportation and accommodation, a big delegation from the club attended the event in colorful Saudi Intermaint Co. Ltd.-sponsored uniforms, led by DSC President Dennis Santos and Vice President Yuan Fernandez.

DSC competed in the men’s doubles, ladies doubles and mixed doubles flights of the one-day competition and emerged winners and runners-up in different categories. Veteran Patrick Mahinay paired with Pakistani Mohsin Butt to win MDF1 category, while the dynamic duo of Dennis Santos and Arjan Ramos subdued their opponents in a breath-taking championship match to clinch the honors in the MDF3 division.

Jessa Thrina Quijano and Charmaine Abetong showed great improvement in their skills after months of training in preparation for this big event to come up as queens in the WDF4 category over the tandem of clubmates Bianca Lubuguin and Jessica Arguilles-Cencia, while flashy Jhoy Capon and Rhea Denise Rondolo settled as runners-up in the higher WDF2 level.

Determined to succeed, Jhoy Capon recovered in the mixed doubles when she combined with Yuan Fernandez to be proclaimed victorious in the MXDF4a division, while Jesus Bron Jr. capitalized on the improved badminton prowess of prized recruit Jackielou Ho to win the MXDF4b category.

Other DSC members who were not as lucky still cheered for their fellow team members and promised to train further in preparation for forthcoming tournaments.

DSC is a recognized Filipino community and sports organization under the auspices of OFW Congress-Eastern Province and AFCSCOM, the two biggest umbrella organizations in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

The club continuously supports projects organized by the Philippine Embassy and POLO-ERO, and organizes competitions aimed at helping distressed OFWs and other worthwhile community projects. They conduct badminton skills development training programs and regularly participate in badminton competitions all over the Kingdom and in neighboring countries.