OVER 200 entries step up their chase for honors and ranking points as action in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age-group tennis shifts to the Visayas for the PPS-PEPP Argao leg at the Argao courts in Cebu.
Siblings Bless and Hazel Coderos headline the girls’ 18-and-under cast while Vhon Tudtud and Paul Coderos loom as the players to beat in the boys’ premier division of the tournament, which got under way yesterday with matches in the boys’ 18-, 16-, 14- and 12-U divisions and the 10-unisex, which all featured 32-player draws.
Lyrah Repollo, meanwhile, seeks a “double” in the girls’ 14- and 16-U play of the tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop headed tby president/CEO Bobby Castro and presented by Slazenger while a four-cornered fight among Corazon Lambonao, Kim McKenzie, Shara Paliwag and Riza Coderos looms in the 12-U side.
Like Repollo, Ceasar Salimbangon also targets two titles in the boys’ 14- and 16-U sections along with EJ Pasaol and Kenneth Tenepre while Andrei Tabura, Gerald Gemida, Hans Cabello and Adrian Anonat brace for a fierce duel in the 12-U class in the five-day event, which comes on the heels of the successful PPS-PEPP Northern swing.
“The PPS-PEPP continues to grow in numbers and participation and this only inspires up to put more and more tournaments in our effort to expand the base of our talent-search,” said Castro.
Also on tap are the doubles events in the girls’ and boys’ 14- and 18-U and 10-U.
Meanwhile, the country’s leading juniors and members of the national pool gear up for the two-week Dagitab Tennis Festival slated Dec. 14-22 in Naga City, Cebu, according to PPS-PEPP Sports Program Development director and organizer Bobby Mangunay. For details, call 0915-4046464.