PALEMBANG—The Philippines swept its first two matches against Laos, 2-1, and Pakistan, 2-1, to assure itself of a quarterfinal slot in the men’s team event of the 18th Asian Games soft tennis competition at the Jakabaring Sports City Courts on Friday.
Relying on the troika Joseph Arcilla, younger brother of former national player Johnny Arcilla, and Mark Anthony Alcoseba and Noel Damian Jr., the Filipinos outclassed the Laotians and Pakistanis in Group A.
They played the Koreans later on Friday and a victory would send the Nationals to the semifinals, while a loss would pit them against the Taiwanese in the roundof-eight on Saturday.
The women’s squad, meanwhile, bowed out of the team event after absorbing identical 0-3 losses to China and Chinese-Taipei, respectively, in its group.