A bronze that glitters like gold for soft tennis

NAGOYA, Japan – The tiny but determined members of the soft tennis team stood tall for Team Philippines on Sunday, Sept. 20, as they officially claimed the bronze medal just as Olympian swimmer Kayla Sanchez impressed on her redemption tour at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya.

There was no bitterness in the hearts of the Filipinas despite absorbing a 0-2 defeat against the host nation – the very same country that introduced the sport to the world.

After all, they successfully ended the country’s 32-year medal drought, apart from becoming the first to win a medal out 464 Filipino athletes vying in the continental showpiece.

Then after the match, team captain Bien Zoleta-Manalac gathered other members – Princess Catindig, Christy Sanosa, Shyryn Salazar and Hilary Paas – at center court of Higashiyama Park Center to celebrate with gusto.

“Pinakita lang naming na Pinoy kami, nakangiti, masaya kahit anong pagdadaanan,” said Catindig.

Zoleta-Manalac added that the bronze-medal win just showed that the country belongs among Asia’s best and she was mightily proud to be part of the team.

“Para sa bayan at sa next generation of soft tennis players ang panalo naming ito,” said the 37-year-old Zoleta-Manalac.

In teqball, 14-year-old Prince Agustin missed becoming the country’s second bronze medalist after losing to 36-year-old Friday Saw of Myanmar in the men’s singles.

Had Agustin won, he could have received P400,000 from the Philippine Sports Commission, plus perhaps a bonus from the Philippine Olympic Committee. The gold medal is entitled to receive P2 million while the silver is worth P1 million.

In Tokyo, Sanchez did hard enough to help power the women’s team to the finals of the women’s 4x100 meter relay, submitting the fifth best time after two heats.

Proud winner of two Olympic medals while representing Canada at the Tokyo Games, Sanchez, along with Heather White, Xiandi Chua and Teia Salvino, timed 3:45.73.

As expected, superpowers China, Japan and South Korea recorded the three fastest times, with the prodigious Chinese clocking 3:37.70, .8.03 seconds quicker than the PH squad.

Gilas Women, meantime, inched closer to a quarterfinal spot by clobbering Hong Kong, 90-73, at the Aichi International Arena.

Thanks to Afril Benardino, Stefani Berberabe Jhazmin Josom and Camille Malagar, Gilas broke away from a tight first half with a decisive breakaway bridging the last two quarters.

Over at the Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court in Hekinan City, the celebrated duo of Bernadette Pons and Sisi Rondina made their presence felt after outhustling their Bangladesh rivals, 21-6, 21-6 in their group elims at the Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court in Hekinan City.

Their win somehow lessened the negative impact of the Alas Women’s relegation to the battle for 9th to 14th place.

While there was good news on the tennis and sand courts, there were disappointments at the other fronts.

Swimmer Logan Noguchi failed to advance to the finals in the men’s 100m freestyle despite topping his heat. His time of 50.61 seconds was not good enough to make to make it to the 8-player final after emerging as the 20th best among 43 entries.

Chinese Olympic champion Zhanle Pan recorded the best time of 48.07 seconds followed by Koreans Sunwoo Hwang (48.13) and Youngbeam (48.34).

Wushu bets Agatha Wong (women’s taijiquan), Sandrex Gainsan and Mark Anthony Polo fare badly in their respective events although Wong still has one event left for the day.

Gaisan and Polo wound up 10th and 18th, respectively, at men’s changquan.

Triathletes also proved no match to their opposition with Fernando Jose Casares and Inaki Lorbes finishing 10th and 18th in the men’s individual won by Japanese Takumi Hojo.

Raven Faith Alcoseba could only finish 9th in the women’s division that China’s Xinyu Lim claiming the gold.

Meantime, the women’s football (Filipinas) battles China on Monday, hoping to advance to the knockout stage trouble-free.

After a 1-1 draw with Uzbekistan on the opener, the Filipinas blanked Hong Kong China, 2-0, thanks to the splendid goals from Isabella Leach and Mallie Ramirez.

A win could guarantee them a spot in the quarters, while a draw or defeat may also see them advance to the quarters as one of the best third-placed teams.

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