Fresh from a hair-raising five-set conquest of Malaysia, the Philippine men paddlers’ hopes of winning the first ever silver died down after conceding to Vietnam, 3-2, 3-0, 3-0, in the SEAG table tennis team event at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The team, however, took home bronze, the first medal RP table tennis ever got in the team event.
Richard Gonzales lost to 2003 SEA Games singles gold medalist Quynh Tran Tuan of Vietnam, 2-3. Ernesto Ebuen then lost Kien Quoc Doan, 0-3, as did two time UAAP MVP Harold Baring, 0-3, to Nam Hai Nguyen.
The highly offensive Baring was caught flat footed as his chops and smashes were ably countered time and again by Hai, who went on to win, 6-11, 5-11, 8-11.
"Had we forced the game to go at five sets, we could have had a good chance because I could have easily handled their second player," Gonzales said. — Jose Bimbo Santos