Bambi Zoleta launched her quest for a slot in the 19th Asian Games with an emphatic performance in the 1st PSTA Soft Tennis National Open last week at the Zoleta Tennis Center (ZTC) in Lucena City.
The 30-year-old Zoleta used her home-court advantage to the fullest in dominating fellow national team member Princess Lobren Catindig, 4-3 (5), to clinch the gold medal in the women’s open singles event of this tourney that stakes two slots in the Asian Games set in Hanoi in September.
Christy Sañosa and Gab Zoleta settled for bronze.
But Zoleta, a gold medalist in the 30th Southeast Asian Games in Manila in 2019, still has to overcome four more legs to seal her spot in the squad that will vie in the Asian Games.
The qualifiers will be held at the ZTC from 19 to 20 March before moving to the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex from 26 to 27 March. Then, it will return to ZTC from 9 to 10 April and Sta. Rosa Sports Complex again from 23-24 April.
The deadline of submission of entries for the Asian Games will be around May so Zoleta and other competitors are tipped to go all out in the upcoming tourneys.
Also making her presence felt was Zoleta’s niece, Gab.
The 18-year-old College of Saint Benilde standout prevailed over Cristy Sañosa, 4-3 (9), to clinch the title in the 21-under girls singles while Shaira Gil Silva and Kyla Poon settled for bronze medals.
Her partnership with Zoleta, however, didn’t go quite well as Catindig and Sañosa downed them in the final of the women’s open doubles event, 4-2.
Meanwhile, Sherwin Ray Nuguit emerged victorious in the 21-under boys’ event, Joseph Arcilla ruled the men’s open class and Arcilla and Mikoff Manduriao conquered the men’s open doubles category to round out the winners in the first leg of the Asian Games qualifiers.
