A perennial spectator at every gold-medal finale in the Southeast Asian Games, Philippine table tennis could probably find itself in the limelight for the first time.
AFP PHOTO/ROSLAN RAHMAN
National champion Ernesto Ebuen, a losing finalist in the men’s singles of the World Championship of Ping Pong held in Las Vegas early this year, is the country’s strongest bet in years to break the jinx.
The 21-year-old US table tennis circuit regular is heading a six-man team to the 26th SEA Games in the cities of Palembang and Jakarta, Indonesia.
Ebuen gave up the crown in the Worlds to Russia’s Maxim Shmyrev outshone Germany’s Stefan Feth, China’s Li Yang, Australia’s William Henzel, Paul Drinkhall of United Kingdom and Trevor Runyan of the US—five of the planet’s best.
Also aiming for a possible gold in the November 11 to 22 meet is veteran Richard Gonzales, who ruled the 2008 Southeast Asian championship.
“We’re targeting two golds. We’re lucky if we could win three,” said Jose Ortalla Jr., vice president of the Table Tennis Association of the Philippines.
Table tennis won a bronze in Laos after going home empty-handed in 2007 in Thailand.