PHL PADEL SQUAD EYES BRONZE

Philippine padel players Danna Abad and Joshea Malazarte fell short of the gold-medal match on Friday after absorbing a 0-6, 0-6 loss to Fadona Kusumawati and Fitriani Sabatino of Indonesia in the women’s pairs event of the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.

The Filipina duo struggled from the start and failed to win a single game in the 42-minute semifinal at the Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center.

Despite the setback, Abad and Malazarte made an impressive run in padel’s Asian Games debut.

They opened their campaign with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Samaher Kurdi and Lina Alabdullatif of Saudi Arabia before surviving Hong Kong’s Chan Wing and Lau Hiu, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3, in the second round.

The Filipinas then advanced to the semifinals by beating Saba Najafi Dehaghi and Neda Mohammad Taghipour of Iran, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, in the quarterfinals.

Abad and Malazarte can still salvage a bronze medal when they face Indonesians Novela Putria and Beatrice Gumulya at 10 a.m. (Manila time) at the same venue on Saturday.

A victory will put the Filipina duo in history as the first medalists in padel at the prestigious continental showcase.

However, Putria and Gumulya will be equally determined to end their Asiad campaign on a high note after a 1-6, 3-6 loss against Tsukamoto Saki and Tokumoto Kae in the semis.