HANOI – The Philippine tennis team sealed a 1-2 finish in men’s doubles at the 31st Southeast Asian Games as Francis Casey Alcantara and Jeson Patrombon sealed a final face-off against Treat Huey and Ruben Gonzales on Friday at the Hanaka Sports and Service Center in Bac Ninh.
Alcantara and Patrombon defeated Quoc Khanh Le and Van Phuong Nguyen of Vietnam, 6-4, 6-2, while Huey and Gonzales won over Minh Tuan Pham and Giang Trinh Linh of the host side, 6-4, 6-2, to arrange a rematch for the SEA Games gold.
[See Golden double for Hidilyn Diaz at SEA Games]
The Filipinos also clashed for the gold in 2019 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center with Alcantara and Patrombon winning, 7-6 (6-2), 7-5. This time, Huey and Gonzales are the top seeds and favored to beat their unseeded compatriots.
“I’m so happy to be back in the finals,” Alcantara said. “I am very contented na because we got the silver and gold for the Philippines.”
The all-Filipino final, set on Saturday at 10 a.m. (11 a.m. Philippine time), atoned for the defeat suffered by Alex Eala, who was relegated to the bronze-medal match in women's singles after bowing to Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand, 6-4, 6-1.
Alcantara and Patrombon have yet to drop a set, beating M. Krusling and Samneang Long of Cambodia, 6-2, 6-1, before upsetting third-seed Christopher Rungkat and Rifki Fitriadi of Indonesia, 6-1, 7-5.
“It’s going to be a fun match tomorrow. Win or lose, we got the gold,” Alcantara said.
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