11/09/2026
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๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ-๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ข ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต, ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐บ โ๐๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ขโ ๐๐ข๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ญโ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ด๐ช๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ โ From the tennis courts of Carrascal to the international podium, Hilary Sophie Angcla Paas, fondly known as โHopia,โ has steadily built a name through competition, podium finishes and an unrelenting climb in Philippine soft tennis.
Hope will don the colors of the Philippine National Soft Tennis Team as the Asian Games gather the regionโs finest athletes from September 19 to October 4, 2026. For the Carrascalanon, Nagoya is the latest stop in a competitive climb that started with early Palaro success and has since reached national and international courts.
Her first major breakthrough came early. Hope began playing tennis in Grade 4, inspired by her father, Gabriel Paas. With the support of her mother, Alyn Paas, and training under Uncle Clarence Correos, she quickly moved from learning the basics to competing. By Grades 6, 7 and 11, she had already represented her school and community at the Palarong Pambansa, the nationโs the premier annual national multi-sport event for student-athletes from public and private schools, making her a three-time Palaro player.
Those early Palaro appearances became an important launchpad for a career that continued to move up the competitive ladder.
Hope later earned scholarship opportunities at San Sebastian College-Recoletos Manila, where she represented the school in NCAA Seasons 100 and 101 and finished 1st Runner-Up, 2nd Runner Up respectively. The collegiate circuit gave her another platform to sharpen her game against strong national-level opposition.
Her rรฉsumรฉ expanded internationally in 2025. Hopia captured GOLD in Soft Tennis Doubles and SILVER in Singles, showing her versatility in both doubles and individual play at the Korea University Soft Tennis Tournament. At the Korea Cup International Tennis Tournament, she added a BRONZE in Mixed Doubles, finishing third. She also competed at the Sunchang Open, gaining further international match experience.
Her performances eventually placed her within the Philippine national Soft Tennis training pool, another key step toward the national team. Now, that progression has brought her to the Asian Games.
For Hopia, the formula on court is straightforward: stay calm, trust the training, and control the controllables.
โI focus on every point and give my best until the last one,โ she says. Rather than getting caught up in an opponent's reputation or ranking, she concentrates on executionโone serve, one return, one rally at a time. She also draws strength from her faith, confiding that prayer and trust in God remain central to her preparation and competition. This remarkable mindset will be crucial in Nagoya, where the level of competition will rise another notch.
But Hopia will not be stepping onto the Asian Games court without a rรฉsumรฉ. She arrives as a three-time Palarong Pambansa player, NCAA 1st Runner-Up, international medalist, national training-pool athlete and now Philippine national-team rookie.
Behind her will be her parents, Alyn and Gabriel Paas, along with relatives, friends and the entire Carrascalanon community who have been part of her journey from the local courts.Their encouragement has remained a constant as Hope moved from local competition to national and international play.
For the Carrascalanon, representing the Philippines is both a competitive opportunity and a source of hometown pride. Her message to the next generation is just as direct: believe in yourself, dream big, stay humble, work hard and keep God at the center of everything. Challenges, she believes, are part of the gameโand part of the journey.
Now, the biggest rally of her young career awaits. From the Palarong Pambansa courts to international podiums, from the NCAA to the Philippine national team, Hope has steadily raised her level. This time, she takes that climb to Aichi-Nagoya.
The stage is bigger.
The field is stronger.
The Philippine flag on her back, and Carrascal rallying behind her.
๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ง, ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐!
๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ค๐๐ฆ๐ข ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ฆ๐จ!
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๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ฒ๐โ๐ ๐จ, ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐!
