Ruben Gonzales from the Philippines in action during the 2017 SEA Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Contributed photo)
MANILA – Fourth seeds Ruben Gonzales of the Philippines and Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia lost to Toshihide Matsui and Kaito Uesugi of Japan, 6-7 (3), 3-6, in the quarterfinal round of the Unicharm Trophy Ehime International Open in Matsuyama, Japan on Thursday.
Matsui and Uesugi will face Dane Sweeny and Li Tu of Australia, who won their quarterfinal match against Ji Sung Nam and Min Kyu Song of South Korea, 6-3, 6-4.
Third seeds Andrew Harris and John Patrick Smith of Australia also earned a semifinal berth after pulling off a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 victory over Nino Serdarusic of Croatia and Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Harris and Smith will be up against Sho Katayama and Takeru Yuzuki of Japan, who walked over compatriots Shintaro Mochizuki and Rio Noguchi in the quarterfinals.
Following their loss, Gonzales and Rungkat will be gearing up for the Kobe Challenger on Nov. 14-20 and Yokkaichi Challenger on Nov. 21-27.
Francis Casey Alcantara of the Philippines and Nam Hoang Ly of Vietnam, who were eliminated in the first round, will also join the two tournaments.
Gonzales and Alcantara are seeking their fourth titles this year. The world No. 142 Gonzales teamed up with Victor Vlad Cornea of Romania to win the Yokohama Keio Challenger last week.
Gonzales and Alcantara will banner the Philippine team in two major tournaments next year –the SEA Games in Cambodia and the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. (PNA)
