Alex Eala is one win from rewriting her SEA Games story—and she made sure everyone watching knew it.
The Filipina tennis star blasted past Thailand’s Naklo Thasasporn in straight sets, 6–1, 6–4, silencing the home crowd and sending a clear message: Eala is here for gold.
Next up, another Thai hurdle—Mananchaya Sawangkaew—who advanced after Indonesia’s Janice Tjen retired in the semifinals due to breathing issues. World No. 53 Eala, brimming with confidence and ruthless form, will face Sawangkaew Thursday for her first-ever SEA Games gold, after three bronze medals in her 2022 debut in Vietnam.
From the first serve, Eala set the tone. She ripped through the opening three games, forced Naklo into errors, and closed the first set with commanding authority. The second set saw Naklo fire back, taking the first two games with a 40–0 romp, but Eala answered with a flurry of sharp angles and precision shots, swinging the lead back to 3–2.
Naklo leveled at 3–3, but Eala, cool under pressure, forced mistakes and turned the tide again. When Naklo extended the match by one more game, it didn’t matter—Eala slammed the door shut with a 40–15 lead, capitalizing on a final error to clinch the win.
While Eala edges closer to gold, swimmer Kayla Sanchez is already a Philippine Games legend, bagging three golds (100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 4x100m freestyle relay) and five silvers. Sanchez is a Canadian with Filipino descent, who won silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she competed under the Canadian flag.
In athletics, the Philippines kept the medal train rolling: 21-year-old Hussein Loraña and 16-year-old Naomi Cesar swept gold in the men’s and women’s 800 meters, respectively.
Meantime, both Gilas men’s and women’s teams are awaiting their respective semi-finals opponents in games set for Thursday.
Eala now stands at the doorstep of history, racket in hand—and one brilliant match away from finally upgrading bronze to gold.
