PALEMBANG -- The Philippine tennis contingent in the 2018 Asian Games went two out of three in its first set of events on Sunday at the Jakabaring Tennis Courts.
Four Filipino athletes, Jeson Patrombon, Marian Capadocia, Francis Alcantara, and AJ Lim, all made their Asian Games debuts in winning fashion.
Patrombon had no problems in his men's singles match, defeating Nazario Gusmao of East Timor in two sets, 6-1, 6-0.
"I'm happy of course since I won the first round. Even though the opponent that I faced today wasn't that tough, it's a good way to gain confidence," said the 25-year-old Patrombon.
With his victory, Patrombon moves on to the next round and go up against 12th seed Yibing Wu of China, who is also currently ranked number one in the ITF (International Tennis Federation) Juniors rankings.
"I already saw him play before when I competed in China," said the Ilagan City native. "He has a solid stroke and plays with confidence. Tomorrow, I'll really play hard. I'll fight tomorrow." Patombron was also in action for the men's doubles competition with Francis Alcantara. The two bested Qatar's Jabor Al-Mutawa and Mubarak Zayid in two sets, 6-4, 6-2.
"It was expected for them to win that match but it's a good practice in the next matches to come," said coach Chris Cuatro as their next men's doubles opponent will be fourth-seeded Chinese Taipei.
In the mixed doubles competition, AJ Lim and Marian Capadocia tried to keep in step with Divij Sharan and Kamran Kaur Thandi of India, but the seventh-seed got the better of the Filipinos in two sets, 6-4, 6-4.
The Philippines was actually ahead at different stages of the match, boasting a 4-3 lead in each of the two sets. And in both occasions, India was able to rally and come out with the win. Things looked bleaked for Lim and Capadocia in the second set with the games tied at 4 apiece. The Philippines held serve but India was able to capitalize on the errors of the Filipinos and shifted the momentum to eventually get the win.
"I think AJ and Marian played well in their game it's just their opponents were higher ranked," explained Cuatro. "Experience will come out. I think the Indian players were more experienced than us. But it's a good exposure for our players."
Even though inexperience got the better off them, the 19-year-old Lim and 22-year-old Capodocia did not show their youth against tough competition.
"Overall, we played well. The pressure was on them, not on us," shared Capadocia. "It was the first time that AJ and I partnered and it turned out well. Even though we lost at least they got nervous instead of us."
"We're happy to the point that we played well despite the loss. But we also realized that we still need to improve," Lim pointed out.
The Philippines will compete in six events Monday. Lim and Patrombon will compete in their respective men's singles matches while Capadocia will have a match of her own in women's singles division. In the men's doubles, the duo of Patrombon and Alcantara go toe-to-toe against Chinese Taipei. Filipino-German Katharina Lehnert, who is on her second Asian Games, will compete alongside Capadocia in the women's doubles and will be partnered with Alcantara for the mixed doubles.