PHL tennis team, umaasa ng ginto sa Biennial meet

Mas pinalakas pa ng Philippine tennis ang kanilang kampanya at pagkakaisa para sa pagsabak sa 30th Southeast Asian Games.

Bagamat may gusot sa liderato ng sport, sisikapin nila na makabawi mula sa pagkakabokya noong 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, kung saan ang Thailand ang nakawalis ng halos limang gold medals.

“Seeing Treat (Huey) and Ruben (Gonzales) playing for the Philippines is a very good sign. And hopefully, the Filipino tennis community will really try to support the team this coming SEA Games,” saad ni national team coach Chris Cuarto.

Mangunguna sa kakampanya sa team Pilipinas ay sina Fil-Ams Huey at Gonzales kasama sina Casey Alcantara, Jeson Patrombon, AJ Lim, Marian Capadocia, Khim Iglupas, Denise Dy at Shaira Rivera at Clarice Patrimonio.

“The training is still on-going. Most of the players now are trying to get some time off kasi katatapos lang PCA Open. Most of our local players and ‘yung mga players natin abroad still on-going ‘yung mga tournaments nila. Si Treat and Ruben are in the US, while Alcantara just came back from Qatar and he’s leaving again for Kuwait this coming week for the Challenger 25 Thousands,” ani Cuarto.

“They’re still joining more tournaments and depending on their results, siguro the latest (they’ll be back) is third week. So everyone will be converging here in Manila for the SEA Games,” dagdag niya. “The PSC (Philippine Sports Commission) has long been wishing for peaceful solutions to NSA squabbles, although as a government agency, it does not have a say on these situations,” ayon kay PSC Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez. “But we are happy with this recent development, especially with the SEA Games just around the corner,” dagdag ni Ramirez.

Sisimulan ang tennis competitions sa Dis. 1 - 7 sa Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, kung saan pakay ng Thailand na duplikahin ang kabuuang dominasyon ng sport sa nakaraang dalawang taon at ang powerhouse cast nila ay binubuo nina Tamarine Tanasugarn, Luksika Kumkhum, Peangtarn Plipuech at twins Sanchai at Sonchat Ratiwatana at Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul.