By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The Philippine soft tennis team continued to make waves in the international scene after bagging three bronze medals in the 2023 NongHyup Bank Incheon Korea Cup held recently.
Joseph Arcilla spearheaded the squad with a bronze finish in the men’s singles event where he suffered a 4-1 defeat to Taiwanese Po Yi Chen in the semifinals.
The reigning Southeast Asian Games champion opened his bid with victories over rivals from Thailand and Mongolia then dominated teammate Dheo Talatayod in the quarterfinals, 4-1, before yielding in the semis.
Talatayod, meanwhile, teamed up with 2023 SEAG double gold medalist Bien Zoleta for a bronze-medal finish in the mixed event.
The duo blanked opponents from host Korea, India and Cambodia with identical 5-0 scores before bowing to Japan, 5-0, to settle for third place.
Arcilla and Talatayod, then, joined forces with Samuel Nuguit and Ryan Carpio to claim the bronze in the men’s team event.
This would be the second time that the country finished at the podium in the team event, and first for the singles and doubles events.
The Korean tilt is the first tournament since the PH team hauled three gold, one silver and one bronze medal in the 32nd SEAG in Cambodia last month.
