Jann Mari Nayre and Rose Jean Fadol kissed their respective Olympic bids goodbye at the World Table Tennis Singles Qualification Tournament in Doha, Qatar after yielding to tough opponents Monday, March 15.
Nayre bowed out of the men’s quarterfinal contention with an 11-5, 11-4, 11-4, 8-11, 13-11 defeat to Italy’s Niagol Stoyanov while Fadol got beaten black and blue in the semifinals at the expense of Ukraine’s Margaryta Pesotska, 11-4, 11-4, 11-3, 11-2.
Prior to her defeat against Pesotska, Fadol was two wins away from clinching a berth to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. A victory against the Ukrainian could have arranged her the final duel against Sweden’s Linda Bergstrom for the Olympic ticket.
Despite the defeats, it was a strong showing for the Philippine team that has been quietly campaigning for Olympic slots.
Nayre and Fadol, however, still have another shot at gaining Olympic seats when they compete in the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament also in Doha starting Thursday, March 18 until Saturday, March 20.