John David Velez and Alexa Milliam proved to be a cut above the rest over their peers and older rivals, scoring a pair of three-title romps in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Buglasan Festival national age-group tennis tournament at the Praxevilla Tennis Courts in Dumaguete City last Monday.
Both 14-year-olds, the PPS-PEPP Mac Crankit players topped their age group category then went to rule the 16- and 18-and-under divisions without dropping a set and share the MVP honors in the Group 2 event presented by Dunlop and sponsored by Gov. Roel Degamo which served as part of the Buglasan Festival.
Velez lived up to his top billing in the boys’ side, routing Khenz Justiniani, 6-0, 6-2, for the 14-U crown then toppled Sebastien Lhuillier, 6-2, 6-4, in the 16-U finals. The young Davao City star capped his feat with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Gauilian Bandoquillo.
Milliam, from Pontevedra, Negros, matched her fellow TENX-backed player’s three-title feat in impressive fashion, beating Jufe Ann Cocoy, 6-3, 6-3, as No. 2 seed in 14-U finals, crushing Sydney Enriquez, 6-3, 6-1, to claim the 16-U diadem as No. 4, then snaring the 18-U plum as unranked player via a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Enriquez.
“Coming off victories in an ATF (Asian Tennis Federation) event in Malaysia, they were expected to dominate but to sweep their three events is another thing. They should serve as inspiration to the other young players,” said Bobby Castro, president/CEO of Palawan Pawnshop, which sponsors the year-long, nationwide junior circuit.
Other winners were Valencia, Negros Oriental’s Louis Paliwag (10-unisex), and Siquijor’s Faith Banico (girls’ 12-U) and Naga, Cebu’s Jonathan Largo (boys’ 12-U), while Iligan City’s Bing Padro and Alvin Lomongo, Jerome Tecson and Marlon Mesiona, and Pedro Rosalem and Camelo Gayo topped the men’s doubles in the Legends division of the event backed by Negros Oriental Sports Development Program.
The organizers also conducted the PPS-PEPP MCTA Coaching Conference which drew 30 tennis mentors from the region.
Meanwhile, the second leg of the October festival will be held in Argao, Cebu on Oct. 18-22 with La Carlota hosting the next stop on Oct. 24-28 before winding up in San Carlos City for the Pintaflores Festival on Oct. 29-Nov. 5. Listup is ongoing. For details, call PPS-PEPP Program Development director Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.