TENIELLE Madis sustained her fierce form while Jay Balaoing matched the young Mlang, Cotabato bet’s two-title feat as they shared the MVP honors in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Dangcagan leg age-group tennis tournament in Bukidnon last Monday.
Madis clipped Jilian Manangking, 6-0, 6-1, in the girls’ 12-and-under finals then trounced Angela Buyante, 6-3, 6-1, to nail the 14-U plum, duplicating her exploits in the Cagayan de Oro stop of the circuit sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger two weeks ago.
Balaoing also came away with a pair of lopsided victories, beating Andre Sing twice to claim the boys’ 14-U (7-5, 6-1) and 16-U (6-1, 6-2) titles in the Group 2 tournament backed by Asiatraders Corp. and Dunlop as official ball.
Other winners in the third leg of this year’s nationwide circuit sanctioned by Unified the Tennis Philippines, made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg, were Jazzelle Madis, also of Mlang, Cotabato, Ivy Poliquit of Maramag, Bukidnon, Jyle Martinez of Digos City, Reyman Saldivar Jr. of Kabacan, Cotabato and Ivory Malinis, also of Maramag.
“Tennielle Madis’ back-to-back sweep of two titles impresses us the most and we hope to produce more of her kind and that of Balaoing plus the other emerging stars through our year-long, nationwide talent-search,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.
Jazzelle Madis trampled Andrea Buyante, 6-1, 6-1, for the girls’ 18-U plum; Poliquit held off Angela Buyante, 6-2, 7-5, for the 16-U title; Martinez crushed Bruce Hurtado, 6-4, 6-1, for the boys’ 18-U crown; Saldivar routed Michael Buyante, 6-2, 6-0, for the boys’ 12-U diadem; and Malinis swept Jose Palo, 4-0, 4-2, for the 10-unisex crown.
Balaoing actually ended up with three titles as the Koronadal City ace teamed up with Hurtado to whip siblings Vince and Yvu Dandasan, 8-2, for the 18-U doubles title. Ashley Asok and Poliquit took the girls’ crown with a tough 8-7(5) victory over Andrea and Angela Buyante.
Other doubles winners were Derek Napala-Saldivar (14-U), Sheloh Ripdos-Manangking (14-U), Inigo Barrios-Jose Palo (10-unisex).
Meanwhile, action shifts to Ozamiz City for the fourth leg on Feb. 15-19 while Oroquieta City will host the next leg on Feb. 22-26 before Dipolog City takes its turn to stage the sixth leg on March 1-5. Listup is ongoing. For details, call PPS Sports Program Development director and event organizer Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.