Asian Games: Alex Eala, Shaira Rivera fall short against China's duo to end women's doubles run

The pair of Alex Eala and Shaira Rivera ended its campaign in the 2026 Asian Games women’s doubles after falling to China’s Jiang Xinyu and Yang Zhaoxuan, 7-5, 6-2, on Wednesday in Japan.

The loss came just hours after Eala won her singles match against Joanna Garland of Chinese Taipei, 7-5, 6-0.

Eala and Rivera had a gallant stand in the first set. After trailing 5-2, the Filipina pair eventually won three straight games to tie the set.

However, Jiang, the world No. 22 in doubles, and Yang, the world No. 75, regained their rhythm and took the set after winning back-to-back games.

Banking on their momentum, the Chinese pair eventually pulled away, 5-1, before Eala and Rivera salvaged one more game. However, experience favored the Chinese duo, which eventually claimed the victory.

Earlier, the other women’s doubles pair of Tenny Madis and Steffi Aludo fell to Chinese Taipei’s Chan Hao-ching and Wu Fang-Hsien, 6-3, 6-1, in their second-round match to bow out of the competition.

—JKC/JMB, GMA News