Asian Games, Day3. Great successes for Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong in the women’s draw. Quarter-finals tomorrow

NAGOYA, Japan – The passion of the large crowd at the Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center accompanied Chan/Law (Hong Kong) to victory over Tan/Capadocia (Philippines) at the end of a closely contested match decided in the third set, 5-7 6-4 6-4. The Philippines national team had been unbeaten until this match. “We lost the first set but we did not give up,” said Law. “Our coach believed in us and we never thought we could lose.” On the emotion of taking part in the competition, she added: “Being the first to represent Hong Kong in padel at the Asian Games is fantastic.” In the quarter-finals, scheduled for Thursday 1 October, the Hong Kong pair will face Indonesia’s Putria/Gumulya, who defeated Iran’s Fard/Kahrizi 6-3 6-1 in the round of 16.

 

Among the other women’s matches on Day 3, Saudi Arabia’s Fareh/Yamani secured a notable victory over Thailand’s Narkpraset/Srirungreang (6-1 6-7 7-6) after three hours of play. “It was not easy to win, but we kept trying until we succeeded,” said Yamani. The other winners were  Tsukamoto/Tokumoto(Japan), Abad/Malazarte(Philippines) and Najafidehaghi/Mohammadtaghipour (Iran).

 

There was also plenty of action in the men’s draw. Chin/Aidan Yunus (Malaysia) recorded a notable victory over Khabibulin/Danilov (Kazakhstan) in three sets, 6-2 3-6 6-3. “What I like about padel is the ability to work as a team and win together,” said Chin. “When I win in padel, I always feel as though I am winning together with the whole of Malaysia.” On Day 3 of the men’s competition, Naif/Naif (Qatar) also secured a convincing victory over Kuwait’s Redha/Behbehani, 6-1 6-0. The home pair Ando/Nakamura secured another victory for Japan. Lapidus/Canizares (Philippines), Golestan/Roghani (Iran) and Aljanahi/Alabdulla (United Arab Emirates) also advanced to the quarter-finals.

 

DAY 4 SCHEDULE On Thursday 1 October, courts 1 and 2 at the Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center will host the eight quarter-finals (four women’s and four men’s). The programme will begin at 10am local time. All other matches will be played afterwards.