SEMIFINALIST. Francis Casey Alcantara of the Philippines (in photo) and Coleman Wong of Hong Kong lost in the men's doubles semifinal of the Medco Energi International Tennis Championships first leg in Jakarta, Indonesia on Friday (Oct. 28, 2022). (File photo)
MANILA – No. 3 seeds Francis Casey Alcantara of the Philippines and Coleman Wong of Hong Kong failed to reach the men's doubles final round after losing to their Australian rivals on Friday in the first leg of the Medco Energi International Tennis Championships in Indonesia.
Alcantara and Wong put up a good fight but in the end, they lost to the top-seeded pair of Thomas Fancutt and Brandon Walkin, 6-7 (2), 2-6 in their semifinal match at the Sultan Hotel outdoor hard court in Jakarta.
"They were the better team today. We tried out best but it wasn’t enough," the 30-year-old Alcantara said in an online interview after the match.
He will compete in the second leg scheduled from October 31 to November 6.
Fancutt and Walkin will be facing Fajing Sun of China and Seita Watanabe of Japan, who scored a 6-1, 6-1 victory over No. 4 seeds Nathan Anthony Barki and Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia in the other semifinal match of the USD25,000 event.
Alcantara, who is eyeing his fourth doubles title this year, is currently No. 286 in the world. His career-best was No. 257 in 2018.
Born and raised in Cagayan de Oro City, Alcantara bagged his third doubles with Pruchya Isaro of Thailand at the Hai Dang Cup Week 1 in Tay Ninh City, Vietnam three weeks ago.
His other titles this year were the Hai Dang Cup Week 2 with Nam Hoang Ly and the ITF World Tennis Tour event in Cairo, Egypt with Colin Sinclair of Northern Marianas Island.
Last month, Alcantara and Rungkat were runners-up in two USD50,000 events of the ATP Tour Challenger in Nonthaburi City, Thailand.
They reached the semifinals of the 2016 ITF Futures 2, a USD10,000 event held in Hong Kong.
Alcantara is expected to lead the Philippine tennis team in the Cambodia Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and Hangzhou Asian Games next year.
In the 2019 Manila SEA Games, he and Jeson Patrombon won the doubles title. (PNA)
