The Philippine national soft tennis team is looking to set up a training camp in South Korea in preparation for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from 23 September to 8 October.
Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Joseph Arcilla said the team has requested for this camp to the Philippine Sports Commission in order to hone their skills against tougher opponents in the Asiad.
The national soft tennis team trains from Monday to Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
“If given the permission by the PSC, we would like to train in Korea for 17 days. It would take place in September,” Arcilla said.
“Koreans are good at soft tennis. Them, Japan and Chinese Taipei are the powerhouses of the sport.”
Training in Sunchang has done a lot of good things for the Filipinos in recent tournaments.
First, the Philippines remained a dominant force in the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia last May after a 3-1-1 gold-silver-bronze medal haul.
The team also pocketed three bronze medals in the 2023 Nonghyup Bank Incheon Korea Cup in Incheon.
Arcilla hopes the core of the SEA Games men’s team composed of him, Mark Alcoseba, Sherwin Nuguit, Dheo Talatayod and George Patrick Mendoza will be able to join in China for the Asian Games.
The Philippine Olympic Committee has set a guideline that gold and silver medalists from the Phnom Penh Games will be supported for the Asian Games while those who got bronze medals will have to shoulder their own expenses.
“The women’s team will definitely be complete. The men’s side might not be complete since they are basing it from the SEA Games performance,” Arcilla said.
“We’ll still fight but it would be better if the whole team is complete.”
