MANILA -- Jeson Patrombon and John Bryan Otico will kick off the Philippine campaign against Thailand in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group 2 semifinal on Saturday at the Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) clay court in Plaza Dilao, Paco, Manila.
Patrombon, the Philippines' No. 1 player, will be up against Thailand's No. 2 Jirat Navasirisomboon, the 2017 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) gold medalist in the first of the two opening singles matches.
Defending PCA Open men's singles champion Otico, on the other hand, will face Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul, Thailand's No. 2 player and the 2017 SEAG singles bronze medalist, in the second singles match.
Nominated by their respective teams to play in the doubles on Sunday were Thailand's Ratiwatana twins, Sanchai and Sonchat against Filipino pair Francis Casey Alcantara and Johnny Arcilla.
"It's a good draw. We expect good matches tomorrow," said Philippine team non-playing captain Cris Cuarto after the draw ceremony at the PCA on Friday.
Cuarto said that aside from the players' determination to win, familiarity with the court surface as well as the crowd support will boost the country's chances.
"The players are ready, they are comfortable playing on clay court and we have the crowd behind us," said Cuarto.
But Thailand, which was composed of Vittaya Samrej, Danai Udomchoke and Srichapan siblings Narathorn and Paradorn, won over the Philippines, 4-1, the last time they played at PCA in 1998.
"The new format (best of three sets) favor us, it's different when you play five sets. We also have a complete line-up, there are those for singles and others for doubles," Cuarto added.
Thailand team captain Weerapat Doakmaiklee said that his players are ready against the tough challenge coming from the Philippines. "We are ready for this tie. We expect the Philippines to play well and we will do our best to win," said Thailand team captain Weerapat Doakmaiklee.
Albert Lim Jr. (Philippines) and Palaphon Kovapitukted (Thailand) complete the line-ups of the two teams.
International Tennis Federation (ITF) referee John Blom of Australia presided over the draw ceremony while Thailand team manager, Wassa Wassanont, drew the names.
Chinese Zhao Bing (chief umpire), Indonesian Herta Sekar Pandansari and Indian Ashay Shekatkar (chair umpires), Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) president, Atty. Antonio Cablitas, and Davis Cup administrator Martin Misa also attended the ceremony.
The Philippines is 4-3 against Thailand in their head-to-head record. The Filipinos prevailed, 4-1, in the semifinal round held at the Plantation Bay clay court in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu in 2013.
Team Philippines is aiming to beat Thailand and move a step the closer to a World Group promotion.
The Philippines has remained in Group 2 after absorbing a 0-5 loss to Thailand in their semifinal encounter held at the National Tennis Development Centre in Nonthaburi last year.
If the Philippines wins, it will advance to the final round where it will face the winner between Lebanon and Hong Kong, which are also scheduled to play on April 7-8 in Lebanon.
Arcilla said he is more than willing to play for the country again. His last stint in the Davis Cup was in 2014.
"I am honored to be a part of the Davis Cup team," said the 38-year-old Arcilla, who has won 17 singles and 10 doubles matches since he debuted in the Davis Cup in 2000.
"I am thankful to Philta president Atty. Antonio Cablitas for choosing me to be a part of the team. Also, I am happy that Nino (Alcantara) wants me as doubles partner," said Arcilla, who has won eight singles title in the PCA Open.
Alcantara and Lim both welcomed the return of Arcilla, who also serves as national juniors coach.
"I'm happy for him (Arcilla) to be back in the team," said Alcantara, who arrived last Monday from Bahrain, where he reached the doubles quarterfinal of a USD15,000 Futures tournament. He also competed in three tournaments in Qatar (one semis and two quarterfinal finishes) to improve his world's doubles ranking to No. 371.
"I'm glad that Kuya Johnny is with us in this Davis Cup tie. I'm pretty sure he's gonna be a key part of our success for this tie," said Lim, who won his second straight Most Valuable Player trophy after leading the University of the East to back-to-back titles in the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines two weeks ago.
The Philippines, represented by Alcantara, Lim, Patrombon, Otico and Jurence Mendoza, won over host Indonesia, 4-1, in the quarterfinal round last February to forge a semifinal showdown with Thailand, which has defeated Sri Lanka, 3-2, at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association in Colombo.
Mendoza is a member of the Oklahoma State University Cowboys while Otico is the reigning PCA Open singles champion. (PNA)
