PH netter Alcantara advances in Thailand tournament

MANILA, Aug. 1 — Top seeds Francis Casey Alcantara of the Philippines and Yuichi Ito of Japan won their opening-round match on Tuesday in the men’s doubles of the USD15,000 Thailand Futures tournament in Nonthaburi.

Alcantara, who was born and raised in Cagayan de Oro City, and the Osaka-based Ito scored a 6-3, 6-3 win over Japanese pair, Arata Onozawa and Yusuke Watanuki, in their first-round encounter at the National Tennis Development Center outdoor hard court.

Alcantara and Ito will next play Pruchya Isaro of Thailand and Issei Okamura of Japan, who won over Wei-De Lin of Chinese Taipei and Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul, 6-4, 3-6 (10-8).

Meanwhile, Australians Darren Polkinghorne and Calum Puttergill pulled off a 6-1, 6-3 victory over third seeds Nam Hoang Ly and Thien Nguyen Hoang of Vietnam to also earn a seat in the next round.

Polkinghorne and Puttergill will be up against wild cards Patcharapol Kawin and Jirat Navasirisomboon of Thailand, who defeated compatriots Kittirat Kerdlaphee and Phongsapak Kerdlaphee, 3-6, 6-1 (10-4).

Fourth seeds Sang-Woo Noh of Korea and David Agung Susanto of Indonesia likewise moved to the second round after beating Rishab Agarwal of India and Ronnie Schneider of the United States, 6-4, 6-3.

Noh and Susanto will face Hong Kong’s Hong Kit Wong and Pak Long Yeung, who won over Haadin Bava of India and Yu Hsiang Chiu of Chinese Taipei, 7-6 (3), 6-1.

Alcantara has improved his world’s rankings to No. 369 after winning four doubles titles this year. He will banner the men’s squad in the Southeast Asian Games scheduled on Aug. 19-30 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The other members of the men’s team are US-based Ruben Gonzales Jr., Jeson Patrombon, and Alberto Lim Jr.

The women’s team is composed of US-based Denise Dy, Filipino-German Katharina Lenhert, and homegrown talents Khim Iglupas and Anna Clarice Patrimonio.

Dy is a two-time SEA Games gold medalist in the mixed doubles with fellow US-based Treat Huey. They won in Myanmar (2011) and Singapore (2015).

Chris Cuarto will coach the men’s team, while Czarina Mae Arevalo will handle the women’s team.