The Philippines will win its first gold in men's tennis doubles in 28 years after the pairs of Ruben Gonzalez and Treat Huey and Jeson Patrombon and Francis Casey Alcantara both beat their Vietnamese foes in straight sets in their semifinal matches of the tennis competition of the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Young guns Patrombon and Alcantara turned up the heat in the second half of the first set to brush aside Daniel Cao Nguyen and Phuong Nguyen Van, 6-3 6-1. After Vietnam took a 3-2 lead in the first, the Philippines pounced on their opponents' faulty serving and unforced errors to win 10 of the last 11 games and arrange an all-Filipino battle for the gold medal on Saturday.
Vietnam held serve over the first six games before Patrombon and Alcantara finally broke their serve in the sixth game after Nguyen double-faulted, the first of six such errors that would plague the visitors throughout the match.
The Philippines didn't look back after that, and actually could have served a doughnut in the second set after racing to a 5-0 lead and collecting two match points in the sixth game. But the Vietnamese saved both points and got themselves on the board to stay alive.
The Philippines took care of business in the seventh game, with Van's forehand sailing long for the final point of the match and setting up a dream all-Filipino final.
"We don't care (who wins)," Alcantara, 27, said when asked about facing their compatriots in the final. "We got the gold and silver. That's all we wanted. Bahala na bukas. Parang practice lang."
"We're very happy," added Patrombon, 26, who was once ranked as high as no. 9 in the world junior rankings. "First time for us to partner in the SEA Games, and we reach the final."
The pair did team up at last year's Asian Games in Palembang, but got booted out in the first round. They recently won a tournament in Malaysia, a foreboding of the success they would encounter in this SEA Games.
The veteran pair of Gonzalez and Huey claimed the first finals berth with a 6-1, 6-3 sweep of Vietnam's Khanh Le Quoc and Hoang Nam Ly.
"It was a great performance today," Huey said. "Ruben and I played pretty well and we're excited for tomorrow. The support was great, the fans were cheering really loud."
After a one-sided first set, Quoc and Ly put up a better fight in the second, but Huey and Gonzalez closed it out.
"I think we were just doing the same things. I think they started playing a little bit better," Gonzalez said. "But kind of stuck to our game plan and we started executing a little better and we figured it out."
The Philippines last won a gold in men's doubles in 1991, also in Manila, courtesy of Felix Barrientos and Roland So. The country has finished with a silver medal in the last six stagings, losing to the fancied Ratiwatana twins of Thailand, Sanchai and Sonchat, five times. But the vaunted Thai pair were upset in the quarterfinals, paving the way for a wide open race for the gold.
Huey and Gonzalez have both won two silvers in the men's doubles, albeit with different partners. Huey teamed with Cecil Mamiit in 2009 and 2011, while Gonzalez paired up with Patrombon in 2015 and Alcantara in 2017. Mamiit and Eric Taino claimed silver in 2005 and 2007.
Earlier, Ly beat Nguyen for the men's singles gold, with Patrombon and AJ Lim both taking home the bronze.