TATAP Extension

By JOSEF T. RAMOS

INDONESIA – Richard Gonzales has brought another pride to Philippine table tennis.

Three years after winning a silver medal in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Gonzales showed enough pride to bag a gold medal in the Sixth Southeast Asian Table Tennis Championship last October 21 to 24 at the Sport Mall Kalapa here in Jakarta.

Gonzales displayed tenacity in defense all-throughout the final round to beat Vietnamese Nguyen Nam Hai, 11-9, 14-12, 10-12, 11-5, 11-5, and captured the men’s singles crown of the tournament sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation.

“They really prepared hard for this tournament and I’m happy their hard work have paid off finally,” said coach PO3 Jose Ortalla Jr, also the Table Tennis Association of the Philippines (TATAP) vice-president.

After topping Group E to enter to the quarterfinal round, Gonzales whacked Haru Dahlan of Indonesia, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6, and successfully made it to the semifinal round to face Muhammad Shakirin of Malaysia.

Gonzales, a long-time national player, delivered a good performance using his signature strokes – sharp and precise defense  – to stun his Malaysian rival, 11-4, 8-11, 11-4, 11-4, 6-11, 11-3, on the way to the final round of the event participated by eight countries.

Meanwhile, the Philippines also gained two bronze medals – in men’s team and men’s doubles of Gonzales and Henberd Ortalla.

The men’s team was represented by Gonzales, Henberd Ortalla, Rodel Valle, Ting Ledesma and Julius Esposo.

Ayra Malabayabas, Ian Lariba, Marel Lagunday and Hennezy Aragon represented the women’s team.

Last 5 posts by Josef Ramos

• PNP stays unbeaten 7 times, wins 7th AFP-PNP Olympics crown - November 8th, 2008
• 1st Philippine National Table Tennis Championship update - November 2nd, 2008
• Ortalla leads PNP, earns 1st Phil Table Tennis title - November 1st, 2008
• Phil Table Tennis Championship results: PNP-Butterfly enters semifinals - October 30th, 2008
• RP captures gold, bronze in Indonesia - October 25th, 2008

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