HOPEFUL. Francis Casey Alcantara (second from left) and Filipino-German Katharina Lenhert (second from right) will be up against the formidable Sanchai Ratiwatana and Nicha Lertpitaksinchai in the second round of the mixed doubles event in the 18th Asian Games tennis competitions at the Jakabaring Sports City in South Sumatra, Indonesia on Tuesday (August 21, 2018). (Contributed photo)
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Tennis players Francis Casey Alcantara and Filipino-German Katharina Lenhert will try to survive their second-round match when the 18th Asian Games mixed doubles competitions continue on Tuesday at the Jakabaring Sports City courts in Palembang City, South Sumatra.
Alcantara and Lenhert will be up against No. 8 Sanchai Ratiwatana and Nicha Lertpitaksinchai of Thailand.
Ratiwatana and Lertpitaksinchai captured the gold medal in the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan last year.
Ratiwatana is playing in his third Asian Games. He won a silver (men's doubles) and a bronze (team) in Doha (2006) and also claimed the bronze in the mixed doubles (2010 Guangzhou) and men's doubles (2014 Incheon).
Last Sunday, Albert Lim Jr. and Marian Jade Capadocia lost to the No. 7 tandem of Divij Sharan and Kamran Kaur Thandi, 4-6, 4-6, in the second round.
Meanwhile, Alcantara has failed to advance in the second round of the men's doubles event after he and Jeson Patrombon surrendered to fourth seeds Chen Ti and Peng Hsienyin of Chinese Taipei, 6-4, 6-7 (5), [7-10] on Monday night.
In the women's doubles event, Lenhert and Capadocia took an early exit after they were eliminated by Gozal Ainitdinova and Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan, 5-7, 5-7.
In the men's singles event, Lim lost to the 6-foot-4 Zhang Zhizhen of China, 4-6, 2-6, while Patrombon fell to another Chinese, Wu Yibing, 2-6, 1-6, in the second round.
In the women's singles event, Capadocia absorbed a 1-6, 3-6, setback to No. 9 Eri Hozumi, a bronze winner in the singles and team events in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. (PNA)
