PHNOM PENH. – Joseph Arcilla bucked cramps to crush Muhammad Anugerah of Indonesia 4-1 in the finals and secured the Philippines’ third gold medal and the unofficial overall championship in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games’ soft tennis competition here on Wednesday at the National Olympic Stadium.
Ageing like fine wine, the 37-year-old Arcilla, who is backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee, ramped up his championship run by whipping hometown bet Yi Keaverak, 4-2 (7-4), at noon in a Group A prelims match.
He followed it up with a 4-1 shellacking of Laos’ Lekki Vongphakdy, before surviving his longest match in the tournament, a close 8-6 victory over Thailand’s Kawin Yannarit en route to the gold-medal match against the Indonesian.
“I had difficulty fighting the Thai, that’s why we reached 8-6. This is the reason why I had cramps after the game and in the finals. But I just always remembered what our psychologist told us to just think positive when inside the court,” said Arcilla.
