Paguyo cops gold in Thai soft tennis

Top seeded Josephine ‘Bing’ Paguyo of the Philippines won the gold in the Thailand Open soft tennis invitational championship 2002 in Phuket, Thailand last week.

Paguyo bested Thailand’s protegee Naree Sawitre in the finals via 4-3 tiebreak (7-4) in 35 minutes of hard action. The gutsy Paguyo also grabbed the gold in the women’s doubles together with RP no. 2 Rona Bantay via 5-2 win over Thailand soft tennisters.

Tropang Pinoy host Tony Tamayo, president of the Philippine Soft Tennis Association (PSTA) and the first president of the Southeast Asian Soft Tennis Association (SASTA), said Paguyo won the gold in the women’s individual competition and earned the no. 1 rank in women’s division.

The men’s team composed of Wenifredo ‘Pitik’ De Leon Jr. and Richmond Paguyo snatched silver medal in men’s doubles event. De Leon later teamed up with Rona Bantay to bag silver medal in mixed doubles event.

Rona Bantay won bronze in women’s singles Richmond Paguyo and Wenifredo De Leon Jr. bagged the bronze in men’s singles, respectively. The team was led by PSTA treasurer Francis Hervas and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.