It was a sure gold for the Philippines with the All-Filipino finals’ cast featuring top seed Ruben Gonzales and Huey Treat against Nino Alcantara and Jeson Patrombon in the men’s doubles of the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Rizal Memorial tennis courts before an overflow crowd that cheered both teams.
The duo of homegrown talents Alcantara and Patrombon fashioned out an exciting 7-6, 7-5 victory over the Cebuana Lhuiller-backed and top seeds Huey and Gonzales, with Patrombon’s volley sealing the victory in the second set for a gold-silver finish for the Philippines in tennis.
“It is a great day to be a Filipino today and my congratulations to Nino, Jeson, Treat and Ruben for a job well done. With their 1-2 finish, we showed again that Filipino tennis players are indeed world class athletes,” said Cebuana Lhuillier and Unified Tennis Philippines President Jean Henri Lhuillier, who was among the crowd that watched the game.
Meanwhile, Team Philippines repulsed Indonesia, 14-1, to reach the gold medal round of the men’s baseball action Friday in the 30th Southeast Asian Games baseball tournament at The Villages in Clark, Pampanga.
This allowed the Filipino batters complete a 4-0 sweep of the elimination round.
Jonash Ponce had 4 RBIs for the Philippines in leading them to a finals encounter on the winner of the game between Thailand and Indonesia.
In softball, the Philippine Blu Girls blanked Malaysia, 12-0, in the page system semifinals.
The Filipino clouters went on the attack early and scored four runs in the first inning.
This also allowed them to finish the eliminations with a 4-0 record.
They are eyeing their third gold medal after winning the inaugurals at home in 2005 and in 2011 in Palembang.
The Blu Boys lost to Singapore, 3-4, in the page system semifinal.
But they still have a shot at the final when they face Indonesia, the winner of which will face Singapore for the gold.
