PH table tennis bets fall short of Olympic spots

Filipino table tennis bets vying for spots in the Tokyo Olympics crashed out of contention in the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Doha, Qatar on Friday, March 19.

On the verge of clinching the coveted Olympic berth, Rose Jean Fadol fizzled out after a sterling start as she absorbed a 13-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-2, 11-6 loss to Orawan Paranang of Thailand.

Fadol needed a win against Paranang to tie the unbeaten Thai at 5 points atop the women’s singles Southeast Asia group to advance to Tokyo by virtue of the win-over-the-other rule.

Instead, Fadol landed at 3rd place in the group with 3 points built on a 1-2 win-loss card as Paranang secured her Olympic seat with 6 points on a perfect 3-0 record.

Fadol cut her deficit to 6-8 in the fifth game with hopes of staying alive but Paranang delivered 3 straight points to wrap up the match in 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, both Jann Mari Nayre and John Russel Misal were given the boot in the men’s singles Southeast Asia group.

Nayre lost to Rafanael Nikola Niman of Indonesia, 7-11, 11-6, 6-11, 10-12, 11-1, 9-11, while Misal succumbed to Padasak Tanviriyavechakul of Thailand, 11-5, 11-5, 11-5, 19-17.

Victories would have propelled Nayre and Misal to the semifinals, with the champion of the group qualifying for the Olympics.

Jannah Romero wound up as the only Filipino to win on the day as she crushed Siti Aminah of Indonesia, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8.

However, Romero fell short of an Olympic slot as she finished her campaign at 2nd place in the women’s singles Southeast Asia group with 5 points on a 2-1 slate, losing only to Paranang.

Philippine Table Tennis Federation Inc president Ting Ledesma still lauded the Filipino bets for their efforts.

“I’m very proud of them because they lifted their level in quite a short time,” Ledesma said in Filipino. – Rappler.com