A MIX of familiar and unfamiliar names emerged winners at the recent Surigao City leg of the Cebuana Lhuillier Age-Group Tennis Championship Series, with two local bets surviving the onslaught of visiting players from other provinces to win their respective age categories.
Vaughn Spencer Codilla from the host city beat Emmanuel Pedrosa from Agusan del Norte, 6-1, 7-5, for the boys’ 16-under crown, while Ma. Nichole Bonilla was the other local player to win as she whipped Angel Marie Geraldino, 6-2, 6-3, to rule the girls’ 14-under category in the tournament supported by Dunlop as the official ball and played at the DPWH Tennis Club and Matchpoint Tennis Club courts for the 104 entries it attracted.
“We gave a lot of emphasis to holding tournaments in Mindanao and the Visayas as in the past. We have seen a lot of potentials, who have emerged and this year is not different as new names continue to emerge in the these two regions,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, President/CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier.
Cebu City’s Marc Nicole Suson, however, remains a consistent winner in the series as he again topped the boys’ 18-under age group, making short work of Prince Bo Lastimosa in the finals, 6-1, 6-1 while Butuan City’s Angely Esguerra beat local bet Alyssa Joanna Peligro 6-1, 6-2, for the girls’ 18-under title.
Another familiar name was Merkisslyn Ubay-ubay, a native of Misamis Oriental, who posted an easy 6-0, 6-1 win over Surigao del Norte’s Regine Entoc, 6-0, 6-1, in the 16-under girls’ finals.
A regular winner in the younger age groups the past years, Brent Sigmond Cortes from Tubod, Lanao del Norte has moved up and resumed his winning ways as he copped the boys’ 14-under title, defeating Surigao del Norte’s Jan Ceasar Paqueo, 6-3, 7-6, in the championship match.
Reneline Madalo from Surigao del Norte duplicated Cortes’ feat in the distaff side as she beat provincemate Bianca Tracy Pateno, 6-4, 6-3, in the finals of the girls’ 12-under.
Up-and-coming John Christopher Sonsona had a two-set win over Vince Louis Serina from Butuan to take the boys’ 12-under, while Agusan del Sur’s Stefi Marithe Aludo was a 4-1, 4-1 winner over Chaim Jarase in the 10-under unisex age-group finale.