With an SRO crowd egging them on and hundreds more outside the playing venue begging to enter, Taino left behind his sorry loss in the men’s singles semifinals last Friday and put on an imposing great wall of a defense at the net, poaching shots at will to anchor the duo’s 6-2, 6-3 thrashing of Thailand’s Sanchai Ratiwatana and Montinee Thangpong.

The win gave the Philippines, already the men’s team gold medalist, another shot for a gold against the winner between the Thailand pair of Sonchat Ratiwatana and Napaporn Tongsalee and Indonesians Suwandi Suwandi and Wynne Prakusya, who were playing at presstime.

Cecil Mamiit, meanwhile, was playing Thailand’s top-seeded Danai Udomchoke for the men’s singles gold medal also at presstime. Mamiit was up, 5-3, in the first set.

Taino’s and Zalameda’s win erased the stigma of the 2-6, 7-6 (4), 3-6 loss absorbed by Zalameda and Denise Dy in the women’s doubles semifinals earlier.

The Philippines will go for a fourth finals appearance when Taino and Mamiit tangle with Indonesians Prima Simpatiaji and Sunu Wahyu Trijati in the men’s doubles semifinals later yesterday.

The mixed doubles and men’s doubles finals will be played today starting at 10 a.m.

From the moment Taino held his serve in the first game and followed up by a break on Ratiwatana in the next game, the Fil-American pair were never headed with the threat coming only in the second set when Ratiwatana and Thangphong, after a five-minute rain delay, zoomed to a 2-1 lead in the second set with a break of Zalameda’s serve.

Undaunted, the Filipinos broke back in the next game and then raced to a 5-3 lead before the next two games went with serve for the Philippines win after one hour and 37 minutes.