Arcilla, Labay score in Asian soft tennis

MUNGYEONG, Korea – Jomar Arcilla and Alyssa Labay blanked Lio Wai Meng and Tang Lok Mei, 5-0, to provide the Philippines’ its lone victory as the sixth Asian Soft Tennis Championships shifted to the mixed doubles event Friday here at the Mungyeong Municipality claycourts.

Arcilla and Labay, however, bowed to the superior baseline set-ups of Lin Ting Chung and Lan Yi-Yun as the Taiwanese pair prevailed 4-1 in their second round encounter.

Samuel Noguit, who gatecrashed the Top 8 rankings in the men’s singles division, played with Bien Zoleta in a losing 4-5 contest against Thailand’s Thansisiroj Sakan and Vitayaviroj Thassha in a thrilling 35-minute battle at the TV court.

First-timer Joseph Arcilla and Divine Escala went down to the Chinese pair of Sun Lu and Zhang Ge 1-5.

Kim Ji-Eun and Kim Kyung-Han blasted their Korean compatriots Kim Kyeong-Ryun and Kim Tae-Jung to capture the host country’s second gold medal in as many events.

The Filipinos resume their individual doubles campaign Saturday in the weeklong Asian soft tennis nestfest where the country’s campaign was supported by the Philippine Soft Tennis Association patron Dr. Antonio Tamayo, PSTA president Col. Jeff Tamayo and the PSC.