CAGAYAN de Oro City’s Francis Casey Alcantara felt a bit awkward facing his former Indian partner Kurunuday Singh with their respective teammates in the finals of the US$15,000 F6 Thailand Futures doubles event on Friday, October 12.

Alcantara’s tandem with Singh won the F4 Thailand Futures doubles title in the last week of September, but found themselves splitting with new pairs afterwards.

Still, the 26-year-old Alcantara is determined to win his third straight doubles tourney in Thailand after wrapping up a second win in the F5 Futures doubles alongside Shintaro Imai of Japan last week.

The partnership did not last long as he paired with veteran Sonchat Ratiwatana of the host country in the F6 doubles where they made it to the finals on Thursday.

They survived a grueling challenge from the Russian duo of Shalva Dzhanashiya and Alexander Igoshin via 2-6, 6-0, 10-4 triumph in the semifinals and set a title showdown with Kurunuday and Ajeet Rai of New Zealand on Friday.

Kurunuday and the New Zealander also pulled an escape win against their Japanese opponents, 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.