Soft tennis team bags PH’s 1st medal in Asiad
THE Philippines took its first 20th Asian Games medal after the national women's soft tennis team claimed a bronze medal at the Nagoya City Higashiyama Park Tennis Center Sunday.
The Filipino netters suffered an 0-2 loss to the Japanese but claimed the bronze anyway as semifinalists.
Bien Zoleta, Princess Catinding, Christy Sanosa, Hilary Paas, and Shyryn Salazar thus gave the Philippines its first-ever soft tennis Asian Games medal since the sport made it debut at the 1994 edition of the meet in Hiroshima.
Zoleta and Catindig fell to Rena Temma and Kiho Miyamae, 4-0, 4-1, 4-2, 4-0, 4-1, and Sanosa yielded to Ayaka Iwakura, 4-0, 4-1, 4-2, 4-2, 4-0.
The Philippine team finished in top two of Group B for the semifinal entry and that guaranteed bronze medal finish.
The Philippines defeated Mongolia, 3-0, and Thailand, 2-1, before taking a 0-3 loss to Taiwan in the preliminaries.
"We're so happy because this is a very historic win for us in Philippine soft tennis. This is the first time we've had a podium finish since 1994. We're extremely glad that we won a medal for our country," team captain Bien Zoleta told POC Media.
"This [medal] is what we dream of in soft tennis. This is our Olympics, so winning a medal here is a huge deal for us," she added.
Zoleta could not help but get emotional reflecting on their achievement as a team.
"This isn't just for us, it's for the Philippines—especially since we turned out to be the first to bring home a medal. So I hope this boosts the morale of the other national athletes competing today, tomorrow, and in the coming days, because you all know how hard we worked to win this, especially at the Asian Games," she shared.
Here is the English translation for this section:
Despite the loss, the home crowd applauded the Philippine team for their effort against the defending champions.
For Zoleta, a longtime soft tennis national athlete, she believes the Asiad bronze will pave the way for more players from the Philippines.
"I know that because of the bronze medal produced by the entire Philippine soft tennis team, many doors will open for us. And not just for us, but for the soft tennis community — plus even more people will appreciate it and build soft tennis programs in the Philippines," Zoleta said.
Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Patrick Gregorio personally watched the match and congratulated the team.
"Long live! This is our first-ever medal in the Asian Games. I really made sure to watch you. I know you can still win more medals. Let's just stay focused. It's really exciting to see this sport," he told POC Media.
"This is a sport we can truly develop. It's great that we are here at the Asian Games; let's prepare so we can win more medals... This is a real opportunity to promote the sport," Gregorio added.
