Philippine tennis, softball seen to do better this year
COMING off from a successful run in 2019, sports patron, and head of Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (ASAPHIL) and Unified Tennis Philippines (UTP) Jean Henri Lhuillier sees an even stronger 2020 for Philippine softball and tennis.
“Last year, we saw team Philippines proving their might both in softball and tennis in the international scene with several wins in many global competitions and capped off the last SEA Games.” said Lhuillier.
The Cebuana Lhuillier Sports-backed National Softball Teams won a gold and a silver medal in the 30th Southeast Asian Games. RP Blu Girls dominated softball in the 30th South East Asian Games maintaining their hold on the championship which has now spanned for 10 years since the sport was introduced to the games in 1981. The RP Blu Boys on the other hand bagged silver in the games.
Cebuana Lhuillier Sports netters on the other hand both garnered the gold and silver medals in the men’s doubles events, Francis Casey Niño Alcantara whose partner was Jeson Patrombon faced off with the Fil-Am team of Treat Huey and Ruben Gonzales in the finals with Alcantara and Patrombon earning the first place berth.
“I hope we continue to rally behind our athletes and support them in their upcoming games this year!” implored Lhuillier.
BIG PLANS FOR ASAPHIL, UTP
The country’s supporter of softball and tennis also bared that the upcoming year will be a busy one for the Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines kicking of 2020 with various grassroots tournaments that aims to strengthen appreciation of the sport in the provinces, while scouting new talent.
This is complemented by efforts with the Department of Education to revive the sport in local schools, especially with the inclusion of the sport in inter-school tournaments such as the annual Palarong Pambansa, National PRISAA, and the Batang Pinoy tournament. These efforts also reach the intercollegiate level with invitationals that pit various universities and colleges against each other. While for the local scene, the tournament such as the Summer Grand Slam, Philippine National Games, Men’s and Women’s tournaments and invitationals are lined up for the year.
In the international scene, the RP Blu Girls and RP Blu Boys will continue to participate in various global tournaments with the aim of improving their world rankings. The national team is set to compete in the USA Cup, the Canada Cup as well as the Asian Games set to happen this 2020. Meanwhile, efforts to strengthen the team will continue as the recruitment program for both local and Fil-Foreigner players start early 2020.
Lhuillier also notes that for the new decade, the Unified Tennis Philippines will continue to bring the Filipino might internationally, raring to join more global tournaments such as the ITF and ATP tournaments for its national juniors tennis team while amping up the talents of the Cebuana Lhuillier Sports Ambassadors with the recent launch of the Cebuana Lhuillier Sports Tennis Elite Program that provides the ambassadors with formal trainings as preparation for their future matches.