Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 29) — Alex Eala and Francis Casey Alcantara clinched a bronze medal for the Philippines, succumbing to Chinese Taipei players En-shou Liang and Tsung-hao Huang in the tennis mixed doubles event at the 19th Asian Games on Friday.
Eala and Alcantara bowed to the No. 9-seeded Chinese Taipei pair during the semifinals, 5-7, 3-6, held at the Hangzhou Olympics Sports Center in China.
The Filipino tandem fought valiantly in the match that lasted 1 hour and 37 minutes, with the first set going to Liang and Huang, 7-5, after 12 games.
In the fifth game in the second set, the Philippine team arrived at the break point twice but their opponents proved they had the upper hand to finish it off, 3-2.
The Filipino players tried their hardest to stay alive with a love hold at the eighth game, but Liang and Huang came back with three consecutive points in the next.
Standing at 40-15, the Chinese Taipei duo sealed their ticket to the gold medal match at 6-3.
This was the second medal for the Filipino tennis team in this year’s Asiad.
The 18-year-old Eala also bagged the bronze medal after losing to China’s Qinweng Zheng, the top seed of the women’s singles tournament, on Thursday.
The Philippines has copped one silver and six bronze medals in the continental meet.
