By WAYLON GALVEZ
The handball national team gave powerhouse Thailand a tough time before bowing, 38-28, Friday night in the IHF Trophy Championship last in Shah Alam, Selangor.
The national team earned a ticket to the finals following a stunning 30-29 win over host nation Malaysia.
Nevertheless, Philippine Handball Federation secretary-general Jay Adalem expressed satisfaction with the performance of the players and hopes that the second place finish would be enough for the sport to be included to next year’s Southeast Asian Games here.
“We have proven the we can contend with the best of the region and in time I am confident we can eventually bring home the gold,” said Adalem.
Adalem, together with PHF president Steve Hontiveros, is lobbying for the inclusion of youth handball and beach handball for the 2019 SEA Games.
Handball coach Jana Franquelli said that she is confident that with international tournament like this one will surely improve the performance of the players in time for the SEA Games.
“We started with a goal of a podium finish but things went our way and made the finals. We had our chances against Thailand in the final but unfortunately fell short. Hopefully we can have more of this type of events,” said Franquelli.
The Filipinos trailed for most part of the match but managed to breathe into the Thai’s neck, 21-20, at the half before the reigning Southeast Asian Games champions made a decisive run.
