KUALA LUMPUR – Ana Clarice Patrimonio did everything she can but Thai top seed Luksika Kumkhum was simply too classy, losing 6-0, 6-1, in their gold medal match in the 29th Southeast Asian Games tennis competition at the National Tennis Centre here on Saturday.
The Thai was simply dominant, needing just 48 minutes to dispatch the jittery Patrimonio on the center court of the facility located at the heart of the Malaysian capital.
“Medyo ninerbiyos po ako sa dami ng tao. Pero masaya na rin dahil naka-silver,” admitted the pretty netter and daughter of former PBA star Alvin Patrimonio for her lackluster showing.
“I will try to do better in the 2019 SEA Games,” added the unseeded Patrimonio, 23, who advanced to finals after vanquishing Cambodian fourth seed Andrea Ka, 7-6 (6-5), 7-6 (6-5), in the semifinals last Friday.
It was her first individual silver medal in three SEA Games outings after sharing the women’s team silver in the 2015 Singapore SEA Games.
“You have to hand it to Clarice, she played well the whole week but the Thai was just too strong,” noted coach Cris Cuarto.
Ruben Gonzales and Francis Casey Alcantara netted the Philippine squad’s other silver medal in men’s doubles while the Filipino bets also had a pair of bronze medals in the mixed doubles through Gonzales and Denise Dy and the women’s doubles from Dy and Fil-German Katharina Lehnert.
Their output was lower compared to the one gold, three silver and three bronze medals they took home from Singapore two years ago.
