Phl Tennisters push medal hopes

INCHEON, South Korea -- Mixed doubles kept Phl hopes alive as singles bets crashed out of competition in Tennis on Thursday in the 17th Asian Games at the Yeorumul Tennis Courts here.

Treat Huey and Denise Dy, who are hoping to duplicate their gold medal finish in the Southeast Asian Games in this event, made a quick work of Hong Kong pair Wong Chun Hun and Katherine Cheng, 6-2, 6-4, to advance in the next round.

"I think it was great to get the nerves out and practice our shots," said Dy, who bombed out from singles competitions the other day.

Huey, meanwhile, is upbeat of their chances to advance deeper in the tournament.

"We're the underdog but we got a very good chance. We have a chance to score an upset," said Huey.

They will next face no. 5 seed pair of Danai Udomchoke and Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand in the Round of 16.

Teaming up for the first time, Ruben Gonzales, Jr. and Katharina Lehnert went off to a roaring start with an easy win against Nepal's Anne Mathema and Dawa Sonam Sherpa.

Gonzales and Lehnert routed their opponents in just 47 minutes, winning in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.

"We had a good week of practice. It's rare for me to play mixed doubles so that was a good workout for us," Gonzales said.

Lehnert bounced back after a heartbreaking loss in the singles match a few hours earlier.

"She returns well, she got a solid ground stroke and combined that with my game, we're gonna be a tough team to beat," added Gonzales referring to the pretty Fil-German.

Lehnert squandered a 5-3 and 2-0 lead in first and second sets, respectively, against Japanese Eri Hozumi in her Round of 32 match in the singles competition.

Hozumi, the tournament's sixth seed and ranked 183rd in the world, steadied while Lehnert faded to book a 7 (7)-6 (4), 7-5 win.

PJ Tierro also fell out of contetion, losing in straight sets 0-6, 3-6 to Korean Chung Hyeon, seeded no. 6 in the tournament.

The mixed doubles pairs will play their Round of 16 matches Friday while Gonzales and Huey, seeded no. 2, will also open their campaign in the doubles competition against Macau's Chan Chi Neng and Leung Ho Tin Marco on the same day.