The Philippines duo of No. 1 Cecil Mamiit and doubles specialist Treat Huey face the tough Thais in the quest for the men’s team gold medal at the 25th Southeast Asian Games at the National Stadium in Vientiane, Laos.
Philippine Tennis Association official Randy Villanueva reported that the Philippines beat Indonesia 2-1 in the semi finals to set up the showdown against formidable rivals in recent years, Thailand .
Huey who has had a run of success in recent months in various international tournaments got the Philippines off to a great start when he beat Sanju Wahnu Trijati in straight sets, 6-3/6-3.
Mamiit stepped onto the court brimming with confidence to take the opening set against Christopher Rungkat 6-4 before overwhelming the Indonesian in the second set 6-0.
However, since the match had been clinched the Philippines fielded the tandem of Johnny Arcilla and PJ Tierro in the doubles but they were beaten by the Indonesian pair of Trijati and Rungkat.
The formidable Thai team will be led by Danai Udomchoke and Kittipong and the famous Ratiwatana twins Sonchai and Sonchat .
Mamiit stunned Udomchoke by winning the gold medal in Manila in the Men’s singles in 2005 but in the men’s doubles Mamiit and lefty Eric Taino lost to the Ratiwatana lost to the Ratiwatana twins and had to settle for the silver medal.
Mamiit is currently ranked 394 in the world by the ATP while Udomchoke is ranked 163.
In the women’s team semi finals the Philippines and the highly favored Thai squad split the two singles. Denise Dy played solid tennis to beat Suchanan Viratpraesert in three sets, 6-3/3-6/6-3 but Riza Zalameda was beaten by regular Wimbledon entry and a world top twenty player Tamarine Tanasugurn 6-4/6-0.
In the deciding doubles, Dy teamed up wth Zalameda to take the first set against Tanasugurn and Varatchaya 6-3 and were battling gamely against their vaunted rivals in the second set and were leading 3-0 before disaster struck.
Villanueva reported that “we just missed some crucial points in the second set” which the Filipinas eventually lost 4-6 with the Thais wrapping up the match by taking the final set 6-3 to move into the finals and leaving the Philippine girls to battle for the bronze medal. He said the loss was a heartbreaker, “sayang talaga.”
Villanueva said that Denise Dy is “really playing well” even as he noted that the people of Laos “love the Philippines and were actually cheering for us.”
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