Malaki ang tiwala nina Fil-Am Treat Huey, Francis Casey Alcantara, Ruben Mendoza at Jeson Patrombon na magagawa nilang dominahin ang Chinese-Taipei sa ikalawang round ng Asian Oceania Davis Cup Group 2 Tie, sa Hulyo 15-17, sa PCA Shell Courts.
Sinabi ni PH Davis Cup team coach Karl Sta. Maria na pagkakataon ng pambansang koponan na makabawi sa kalaban na binubuo ng mga bagong manlalaro.
“Treat had just come from a semifinals stint in Wimbledon while Ruben recently won in the ITF Futures in France and when home with Euro 25,000. Nino and Jeson is fresh from competing for two weeks also in the ITF Futures in Hong Kong so I believe they are primed up for the tournament,” pahayag ni Sta. Maria.
Tinalo ng Pilipinas ang Kuwait, 5-0, sa unang round, habang nagwagi naman ang Taiwan sa Malaysia, 4-1, upang magtapat sa ikalawang round.
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Ang mga manlalaro ng Taiwan ay binubuo nina Chen Ti, Chu-Huan Yi, Liang-Chi Huang, at Jui-Chen Hung. Tatlong sunod na nagwagi ang Chinese Taipei kontra sa Pilipinas kung saan pinakahuli ang 3-1 panalo sa nakalipas na tie.
“We had a better shot for sure on Shell court,” sambit ni Sta. Maria.
“Some of the players ay nakalaban na rin ng ating mga players and they know them how they particularly play. We have played them last year and we hope to have a different result this time.”
Isasagawa naman ang draw sa Huwebes, kung saan nakatakda rin ihayag ni Sta. Maria kung sino ang ilalagay nito sa first singles, doubles at reversed singles.
“Experience is on our side, it will a pretty even match-up but we hope to take advantage that we play in our homecourt,” aniya. (Angie Oredo)
