Phlilippine Cuppers level tie with Thais, 1-1

MANILA, Philippines — Jeson Patrombon leaned on his strong service game to trounce Jirat Navasirisomboon, 6-2, 6-2, while Bryan Otico yielded to power-serving Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul, 6-3, 6-4, as the Philippines and Thailand split the opening singles in their Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group 2 tie at the Philippine Columbian Association shell-clay courts yesterday.

Patrombon raced to a 5-1 edge in the first set then duplicated the romp in the second at 5-2. The 25-year-old Iligan City native never dropped a single service game in the match to give Team Philippines a 1-0 lead early in the day.

The 18-year-old Otico, however, failed to contain the 14 aces of Trongcharoenchaikul, the No. 1 Thai player ranked 433rd in the world, and allowed their fancied rivals to draw level at 1-1.

“He plays really well and it’s tough to face him. He’s really serving well. But it’s good experience for me. At least, I did not give up. We still have a chance tomorrow,” said Otico, the reigning PCA Open champion.

The crucial doubles match will be played at 10 a.m. today to be followed by the reverse singles.

Non-playing captain Chris Cuarto remains upbeat of the Philippines’ chances to outwit the Thais in today’s deciding matches, and is hoping that the crowd will rally behind the home team anew.

Johnny Arcilla and Francis Alcantara clash with Thai twins Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana in the doubles match in the morning followed by the reverse singles in the afternoon.

“It would be tough because we’re playing against the twins but the crowd today was really good. Hopefully, that will push our team to win the doubles tomorrow and the reverse,” said Cuarto.