PH soft tennis team qualifies for 2026 Asian Games

By Jean Malanum, Philippine News Agency

Joseph Arcilla and Samuel Nuguit won in the men’s doubles while Bien Zoleta and Princess Catindig also triumphed in the women’s doubles as the Philippines clinched the best-of-three tie against China, 2-0, at the Mugyeong International Soft Tennis Stadium. (File Photo: John Fornander/Unsplash)

MANILA – The Philippine soft tennis team takes pride in its historic gold medal victory in the mixed team event at the 9th Asian Soft Tennis Championship in Mungyeong, South Korea, which concluded Monday.

Joseph Arcilla and Samuel Nuguit won in the men’s doubles while Bien Zoleta and Princess Catindig also triumphed in the women’s doubles as the Philippines clinched the best-of-three tie against China, 2-0, at the Mugyeong International Soft Tennis Stadium.

The mixed doubles pair, Patrick Mendoza and Christy Sañosa, did not play anymore.

The Philippines clobbered Cambodia (2-0) in the quarterfinals and India (2-0) in the semifinals.

“I am so happy and so proud since this is another historic win because its our first gold medal in an Asian-level tournament. The last time the Philippines reached the finals was in 2012 when we (Jhomar Arcilla) won the silver medal,” said Zoleta in an interview on Tuesday.

“The most important is that the women’s team made it to the 2026 Asian Games, because the Asian Championship is one of the criteria to qualify. The men’s team already qualified for getting the bronze at the World Championship last year, so winning a medal here will give the Philippines a chance to send entries in both men and women categories,” added Zoleta, who pocketed the singles and team bronze medals at the 2016 Asian Championships in Chiba, Japan.

Before heading to Mungyeong, the national team attended a training camp from Aug. 24 to Sept. 13 in Sunchang.

The players were accompanied by head coach Michael John Enriquez and assistant coaches Josephine Paguyo, Wenifredo De Leon Jr. and Mark Anthony Alcoseba.

“I am very happy because we finally won our first gold medal in the Asian Championship. All the hard work paid off,” said Arcilla, a gold medalist at the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games.

Competing for the first time in Europe, the national team captured eight medals – one gold, four silvers and three bronzes – at the Poland Cup last July.

Zoleta is the third Filipino to win a bronze medal at the World Soft Tennis Championships (2015, India) after Paguyo (1995, Japan) and Arcilla (2011, Korea).