FilAm netter Ruben Gonzales eyes gold medal at Cambodia SEA Game

MANILA – Filipino-American Ruben Gonzales has expressed his commitment to play for the Philippine tennis team in the forthcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Cambodia and is setting his sights on winning the gold medal.

“Yes, I am playing SEA Games and I am always shooting for gold,” the 37-year-old Gonzales said in an online interview.

On Sunday, he reached a career-best doubles ranking of No. 120 after a runner-up finish at the Association of ennis Professionals A P Challenger in anama, Bahrain.

Seeded fourth in the USD125,000 event, Gonzales and Brazilian partner Fernando Romboli bowed to third seeds Patrik Niklas Salminen of Finland and Bart Stevens of the Netherlands, 3-6, 4-6. n their ay to the finals, on ales and o oli defeated oshihide atsui and Kaito Uesugi of Japan, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (7), 10-6; Andrea Arnaboldi of Italy and Alexandre Muller of France, 7-6 (4), 6-2; and top seeds Roman Jebavy of Czech Republic and Jonny O’Mara of the United Kingdom, 7-5, 4-6, 10-5.

“I’m really proud that all my hard or is paying o And this, I have only played three tournaments this year and already t o finals o ever, there are still a lot of work to do and a lot to improve on. But really grateful for the start of the year that I’ve had,” said Gonzales, ho poc eted three A P Challenger titles last year.

Playing as the No. seeds at the enerife Challenger in pain last ee , Gonzales and Romboli were eliminated in the se ifinals y o seeds Andre arris of Australia and Christian arrison of the United States, 2-6, 4-6. o ever, they lost to A erican oert allo ay and e ican ach erdugo, 3-6, 7-5, 10-6.

In January, Gonzales and American eese talder reached the final round of the Cleveland Open.

I ill play at least A P Challengers before the SEA Games. I will try to prepare as best as I can,” said the 6-footGonzales, who will team up again with talder at the , A P Challenger in Monterrey, Mexico starting on hursday e is a consistent edalist in the A Games, winning the doubles gold with fello il-A reat uey in ietna (2022).

Gonzales, who was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Indiana, has represented the Philippines in major tournaments, such as the Davis Cup, Asian Games, and the SEA Games.

Gonzales also won the doubles silver edal ith uey , anila , rancis Casey Alcantara (2017, Malaysia), and Jeson Patrombon (2015, Singapore).

A A , Ifugao he Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has chosen the town of Lagawe, the capital of Ifugao province, to host the Women in Sports aro ng ahi fro ay -

PSC Commissioner Olivia “Bong” Coo made an ocular inspection of the venues and held a coordination meeting ith the ffice of Provincial overnor Jerry Dalipog, represented by Executive Assistant I Agustin Calya-en, at the

Provincial Capitol in Lagawe last Friday.

“Ifugao would like to strengthen their five regular sports, and e ould li e to help them,” Coo said in a press statement.

“Majority of the games will be played by women and girls as we want to increase the number of female athletes and discover new talents to be part of our national training pool,” the PSC’s lone lady commissioner and a Philippine bowling icon.

“We are happy that the PSC came here with regards to the program of Commissioner ong Coo he Province of Ifugao is really preparing for big events this year, with the PSC’s help and assistance especially the sports equipment, that’s what Gov. Dalipog want to improve our sports sports program,” Calya-en said after the coordination meeting.

Ifugao has proposed for the inclusion muay, weightlifting, boxing, taekwondo and wrestling to further develop its grassroots sports program. en indigenous ga es, including guyyudan, kadang-kadang sa bao, dopap dimanuk, munbayu and uggub will also be a part of the competition. he P C ill have an align ent eeting with the Ifugao workforce like the local secretariat, medical, security and officiating tea s in April to ensure the smooth conduct of the Laro ng Lahi.