Philta scraps women’s team to Asiad

The Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) announced on Monday that for lack of strong material, the association has decided to scrap the formation of ladies tennis to the Guangzhou Asian Games in November.
According to Philta vice president Randy Villanueva, Czarina Mae Arevalo and Denise Dy, who both played for the RP squad in Doha Games in 2006, have stopped playing competitive tennis and will not be available for the team since they have decided to devote their time to their studies abroad.
Arevalo has just graduated in a university in Thailand and may pursue post-graduate studies, while Dy is studying at the University of Washington in the United States.
“We felt that our female athletes still lack the needed experience in playing in the Asian level,” Villanueva said.
At the same time, Villanueva announced that the Philippine team that will play South Korea in the Davis Cup in September will also represent the country in the men’s competition of the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games in November.
Villanueva said the Davis Cuppers, led by Fil-American Cecil Mamiit, are in better position to carry the RP colors in the quadrennial event since they are already preparing for the tie against South Korea.
“They are in very good shape because they’ve been preparing for the Davis Cup ties all year,” said Villanueva, who submitted the list of RP team members to the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) early this month.
Joining Mamiit are fellow Fil-Ams Treat Huey and Ruben Gonzales, and Johnny Arcilla, the team’s only homegrown member.