July Villabrille and Solomon Padiz Jr. put on a show as they displayed strong chemistry to rule the men’s badminton doubles event of the 2024 Bahrain International Series in Manama over the weekend.

The Villabrille-Padiz duo unleashed power hits in the all-Filipino final where they bucked a lethargic second set and bounced back in the final frame to edge out Christian Bernardo and Alvin Morada via a 21-14, 15-21, 28-26 triumph.

Bernardo and Morada beat Finnish, Indian and hometown bets en route to the championship round.

It was also the second straight title for the PH pair after conquering the PETRONAS International Challenge in Ipoh, Malaysia last month.

Prior to their championship run, Villabrille and Padiz earned an early bye in the opening round then swept Bahrain’s Jeffin Jes and Muhammed Ashik Shajahan, 21-7, 21-8, in the quarterfinal.

They followed it up with a semifinal romp of India’s Vimalraj Annadurai and Mauryan Kathiravan, 21-16, 21-13, to secure their final ticket.

In the singles division, Jelo Albo yielded to Indian Kavin Tangam Kavin, 21-12, 21-17, in the finals.

Before succumbing to his Indian foe, Albo collected the scalps of UAE’s Aakash Ravikumar (21-12, 21-7), Syria’s Aljallad Ahmad (21-3, 21-7), and Iran’s Amirhossein Hasana (22-20, 21-19), in the Round of 32, 16, and quarters, respectively.

Albo’s victim in the thrilling semis bout was Indian Vishal Vasudevan, who he humbled via a 21-10, 9-21, 21-12 triumph.

Meanwhile in women’s doubles of the LI - NING Vietnam International Series, Filipina smashers Airah Albo and Eleanor Inlayo settled for the silver medal after bowing to Indonesians Isyana Syahira Meida and Rinjani Kwinara Nastine, 21-18, 21-14, in the final.