Gonzales claims silver in table tennis

The RP table tennis team, through Richard Gonzales in the men’s singles event, took a silver medal in the country’s campaign in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games.

Gonzales missed the gold medal as he bowed to eventual gold medal winner Indonesian Muhammad Hussein, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 10-12.

"I did my best but it just didn’t work out for me. But I’m happy just the same," said Gonzales, who made the finals with a 12-10, 11-7, 12-10, 11-3 win over Vietnamese Doan Kien Quoc.

Table Tennis Association of the Philippines president Vic Valbuena said he’s also happy because they were able to improve on their bronze medal win in Vietnam two years ago.

"I’m hopeful that we can deliver the gold next time," said Valbuena.

For the record, all of the previous SEAG medals the Philippines won in table tennis were bronze – the last by Gonzales himself in the same category in the Vietnam Games.

The Philippines also copped a bronze through Joan Ray Sanchez in the women’s singles in the 1991 Manila Games. –Bimbo Santos