JOMA Pague and Bless Coderos brace for a tough outing against a slew of rivals as they headline the huge field in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Ozamiz leg age-group tennis tournament, which gets going at the Ozamiz City Tennis Club today (Friday).
Pague will be joined by Steven Sonsona, Nilo Ledama and Andrei Cuevas in the boys’ 18-and-under class while Coderos braces for a duel with Janmarie Anghag, Rovie Baulete or Carmeville Gervacio in the girls’ side of the premier division in the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.
More than 200 entries are vying for top honors and ranking points in the fourth leg of this year’s PPS-PEPP circuit backed by Asiatraders Corp. and Dunlop as official ball with Coderos and Baulete also leading the 16-U cast.
“It’s inspiring to note that we’ve been drawing huge number of participants week-in and week-out in our nationwide circuit. There are just lots of talents out there, waiting to be tapped and developed through our year-long tennis program,” said Palawan Pawnshop president Bobby Castro.
Brent Orillano and Ledama, on the other hand, along with Eric Tangub and Al Geromo are the marked players in the boys’ 16-U side with Orillano also gaining the top seeding in the 14-U section that also includes Nash Agustinez, Aston Villanueva and Aslan Carbonilla.
Kristine Bandolis, Judyann Padilla, Rica Labrador and Jalia Elumba, meanwhile, lead the title chase in the girls’ 14-U category of the event sanctioned by Unified the Tennis Philippines, made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg.
Tipped to contend for the 12-U titles are Aslan Carbonilla, Abdel Matarul, Rasheed Lucman and Zarc Denopol in the boys’ class and Judy Padilla and Lianne Lanipa in the girls’ side.
Garlandson Ardiente, Chaucey Aguanta, Wyn Sanchez and Jewel Landasan are expected to dispute the 10-unisex crown in the event which also features competitions in the boys’ and girls’ 14- and 18-U doubles and 10-unisex.
Meanwhile, Oroquieta City will host the fifth leg on Feb. 22-26 before Dipolog City takes its turn to stage the next stop on March 1-5. Listup is ongoing. For details, call PPS Sports Program Development director and event organizer Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.