Julius Villabrille and Solomon Padiz Jr. staged a thrilling 19–21, 21–19, 21–8 comeback victory over Bryan Jeremy Goonting and Muhammad Haikal of Malaysia to book a slot in the men’s doubles semifinals of the Philippine International Challenge on Friday at Gameville Central Park in Mandaluyong City.

The three-time national champions are now just a few wins away from matching their feat in 2024, when they captured the PETRONAS International Challenge title.

This time, they dominated the deciding set, using a decisive 8–0 salvo to secure a semifinal berth in the tournament.

“The second set was a real nip-and-tuck affair. They would take the lead, then we’d overtake them. We managed to keep pace like that. We were actually in danger of dropping the set, so we really had to lock in. That’s how we managed to force the third set,” Villabrille said.

Villabrille and Padiz hope to keep the home crowd cheering through the final weekend as they are the last remaining Filipino pair in the tournament, which features athletes from 28 countries and is supported by the National Sports Tourism Inter-Agency Committee.