Filipino table netter Jann Mari Nayre, who is the country’s first-ever junior representative in the sport in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, won one of two golds the Philippines earned on the fourth day of the 10th ASEAN Schools Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The 18-year-old Nayre shocked rival Josh Chua Shao Han of Indonesia, 3-1, in their boys’ singles finals at the SJK Kong Hoe Hall of the Klang District in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Philippine Table Tennis Federation secretary-general Pong Ducanes said Nayre, who studies at Living Image Academy of SJDM Bulacan, came up with an impressive showing.
After getting past three of his rivals in the group stage, he got through the difficult quarterfinal and semifinal rounds as well, before outplaying Chua, 11-13, 13-11, 11-9, 11-9, for the gold.
In the semis, Nayre won over Javen Chan of Malaysia, 11-5, 12-10, 11-3, and that’s after he hurdled Dominic Koh Song Jun of Singapore, 11-3, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.
In the Group Stage, Nayre first won over Nguyen Duc Hieu, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8, before dropping Thailand’s Wattanchai Samranvong, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9.
To reach the quarterfinals, he had an 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 triumph over Chin Wei Jie of China.
Earlier, Palarong Pambansa standout Eliza Cuyom clocked 14.45 seconds to outrun rivals Liza Putri Ramandha of Indonesia and Halimatul Saadia Binti Mohammed Raja of Malaysia.
Ramandha and Raja had clockings of 14.76 and 15.52 seconds to settle for the silver and bronze, respectively.