The Philippine tennis team is assured of at least two more bronze medals courtesy of the quarterfinal victories of Alex Eala in singles and mixed doubles, alongside Treat Huey, at the 31st Southeast Asian Games on Wednesday in Vietnam.

Prior to the individual competitions, the Philippines won two bronze medals in the Hanoi SEA Games with semifinal finishes in the women’s and men’s team events.

In the women’s singles quarterfinal at Court 1 of the Hanaka Paris Ocean Park in Bac Ninh province, No. 2 seed Eala defeated Jo-Leen Saw of Malaysia in straight sets.

The semifinal opponent for the 16-year-old Filipino tennis star is No. 4 seed Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand, whom Eala defeated in the W25 Chiang Rai final in April.

Eala, the 2021 W15 Manacor champion, routed Phonephathep Philavong of Laos, 6-1, 6-1, in the opening round.

In mixed doubles, Eala teamed up with Huey on Court 2 as the No. 2 seeds, and they defeated Laotians Philavong and Sataporn Simmalavong in straight sets.

Two-time junior grand slam doubles champion Eala and SEA Games men’s team and mixed doubles gold medalist Huey received a bye in the first round.

At the other mixed doubles quarterfinal on Centre Court, Francis Casey Alcantara and Marian Capadocia fell short against No. 1 seeds Christopher Rungkat and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia, 2-6, 3-6.

In the first round, the Alcantara-Capadocia tandem ousted Syed Mohamad Agil Syed Naguib and Jawairiah Noordin of Malaysia, 6-4, 7-6(4).

The fourth Philippine tennis quarterfinal of the day featured Jenaila Rose Prulla and No. 1 seed Chanelle Van Nguyen of Vietnam, whose mother is Filipino.

Prulla, who won the first round by medical walkover, was overpowered by the Vietnamese top seed, 1-6, 2-6.

Meanwhile, 2019 SEA Games singles bronze medalist Jeson Patrombon and Eric Olivarez, Jr. also saw action in their singles opening matches.

Patrombon lost to No. 4 seed Yuttana Charoenphon of Thailand in straight sets, while Olivarez beat Tegar Abdi Satrio Wibowo of Indonesia in two sets to reach the quarterfinals.

More tennis action is in store for the Filipino netters, with defending men’s doubles gold medalists Alcantara and Patrombon setting up a quarterfinal clash against No. 3 seeds Rungkat and Muhammad Rifqi Fitriadi of Indonesia.

In the first round, Alcantara and Patrombon posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Mathew David Krusling and Samneang Long of Cambodia.

Top seeds Huey and Ruben Gonzales, the 2019 SEA Games men’s doubles silver medalists, got a bye in the opening round and will play against Naguib and Hao Shen Koay of Malaysia in the quarters.

In the quarterfinals of women’s doubles, Capadocia and Shaira Hope Rivera will challenge No. 4 seeds Noordin and Sharifah Elysia Wan Abdul Rahman of Malaysia after both teams got a bye in the first round.

• SEA Games: PH netters advance to singles, doubles quarterfinals
• SEA Games: Philippines bags 2 bronze medals in team tennis

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