Villabrille-Padiz pair advances

MANILA, Philippines — Julius Villabrille and Solomon Padiz Jr. booked a place in the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles after pulling off a thrilling 21-23, 21-19, 21-16 comeback victory over Thailand’s Neauadang Mangkornloi and Andrew Newman in the Philippine International Challenge 2026, presented by the Philippine Sports Commission, yesterday at Gameville Central Park in Mandaluyong.

The World Championships-bound tandem showcased its composure against the young Thai pair, overcoming a first-set collapse in their Round of 16 clash of the tournament backed by the MVP Sports Foundation, Smart, PLDT, Yonex, Sunrise, Maynilad, Cignal, MWell, Jollibee, Milksha, and Telescoop.

Mangkornloi and Newman carried their momentum into the second set and threatened to seize control of the match, but Villabrille and Padiz stayed composed to force a decider before completing the comeback in just under 58 minutes.

“Actually, nung first set nabigla rin kami kasi lamang kami eh, pero biglang nabaligtad ‘yung game; sila ‘yung unang nanalo. Kaya nung second set at third set iniba talaga namin ‘yung game play namin. Kailangan focused, kailangang 100 percent na dapat ganito ‘yung tira namin, ‘yung gagawin namin,” Padiz shared.

Villabrille and Padiz are no strangers to success on the international stage, having won the Petronas International Challenge in Malaysia two years ago. This time, however, the National University standouts hope to capitalize on the energy of the home crowd in the tournament, which features athletes from 28 countries and is supported by the National Sports Tourism Inter-Agency Committee.