PH lawyer Agra, Indonesian Gumulya top Phuket padel tilt
LAWYER Jessica Agra teamed up with top Indonesian tennis player Bea Gumulya to clinch the women’s doubles’ title at the Pro Women’s event of the Asia Pacific Padel Tour (APPT) Phuket Open 2024 in Thailand.
Playing as a duo for the first time, Agra and Gumulya hurdled the best in Asia, including Chinese pairs Michelle Wu and Shaiya Chaiu whom they beat, 6-0, 6-4 in the finals of this tournament sanctioned by the Federación Internacional de Pádel, the world governing body for the sport of padel.
Padel Pilipinas, headed by Sen. Pia Cayetano, is the governing body for the sport in the Philippines and recognized by the Philippine Olympic Committee.
Agra and Gumulya are expected to move up in the APPT ranking following their victory.
In the seminals, they pounded a 6-2 6-1 win against Jessy Rompies and Jessica Johan of Indonesia and a 6-2 6-3 against Olga Khlopetskaya and Irina Chernayaof Russia in the quarters.
“I’m very happy with our win. Bea and I have competed against each other both in tennis and in padel and it was a great experience to be on the same side of the court this time around. I think we played well together. I’m thankful we had the opportunity to be partners,” said Agra.
Before her recent feat, Agra was steadily climbing the women’s ranking in the APTT (Asia-Pacific Tennis Tour) following impressive performances in the APPT Hong Kong Grand Slam last month, where she reached the semifinals in both women’s and mixed Pro doubles, earning her the No. 6 spot.
Having been a top junior tennis player with three ITF junior doubles’ titles, Agra’s shift to padel began in 2022 after observing tennis players she knew enjoying the sport on Instagram.
Agra is the daughter of top-notch lawyer Albero Agra, also the president of the Philippine Obstacle Sports Federation.