THE pairs of John Russel Misal and Jann Nayre, and Kheith Cruz and Angel Laude booked tickets to the 2027 World Table Tennis Championships after respectable showings in the recent International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)-Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) Asian Championships in Tashkent.
Misal and Nayre reached the men’s doubles quarterfinals after beating Iran in the round of 32, 11-6, 13-11, and 11-7, then Kuwait in the round of 16, 11-3, 11-4, 11-7, enough to clinch a berth in the worlds to be held May 22-30 next year in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Cruz and Laude placed 10th in the women’s doubles competition, also getting the duo a place in the world championships.
“We are very proud of both teams and what they have accomplished. We will give them our full support in their buildup to the World Championships by sending them to more international tournaments to gain valuable experience and prepare them for the competition,” Philippine Table Tennis Federation president Ting Ledesma said.
“We are grateful to Mr. William Yap and the Huaching Foundation for supporting our qualified athletes and helping provide them with opportunities to compete on the international stage. We also thank PSC Chairman Pato Gregorio and Commissioner Edward Hayco for their support of our athletes and our efforts to further develop Philippine table tennis.”
Misal and Nayre’s run in the competition ended in the quarterfinals in a closely-contested battle against Hong Kong’s Wong Chunting and Baldwin Chan, 11-6, 8-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-8.
The pair were fresh off winning the men’s doubles title in the World Table Tennis (WTT) Feeder Puerto Princesa last September.
Cruz and Laude went a set down before winning over Malaysia, 11-4, 7-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6, in the round of 32 before losing to China, 11-2, 11-1, 11-5.
The loss relegated Cruz and Laude to the placement matches where they earned walkover victories before falling to Lee Daeun and Park Gahyeon of Korea, 14-16, 11-1, 11-8, in the battle for ninth.
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