Charles Torres and Marielle Jarata carved out a pair of victories each in varying fashions and clinched the MVP honors in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Urdaneta age group tennis tournament at the Urdaneta Tennis Courts and Pozorrubio Tennis Club in Pangasinan recently.
The second ranked Torres upended top seed Exequiel Jucutan, 7-5, 7-5, to snare the boys’ 16-and-under crown then the Calasiao bet survived No. 4 Eric Bajet, 6-7(5), 6-1, 10-6, in the 18-U finals of the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop headed by president/CEO Bobby Castro and presented by Dunlop, the official ball.
Jarata, in contrast, stamped her class in the girls’ 12-U section, crushing Jumia Egipto, 6-1, 6-1, then the Agoo, La Union ace took the 14-U plum with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 1 Tristen Kitong in the event sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines, made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg.
Reversals also marred the other finals in the tournament backed by Asiatraders Corp. with No. 4 Achaia Cabahug from Urdaneta foiling second seed Angelyn Atos, 7-5, 7-5, in the girls’ 16-U finals then the rising Urdaneta star whipped top seed Gabrielle Abarquez, 6-0, 6-0, to match Torres and Jarata’s feats.
“Reversals have become some sort of a norm in the circuit with the lesser-lights upstaging the seeded bets through hard work and determination to excel and be among the best,” said Castro. “The PPS-PEPP will continue to provide these young talents the venue to further hone their talent and skills and gain ranking points.”
Jucutan, from Manaoag, redeemed himself from his 16-U defeat by taking the 14-U plum with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Joewyn Pascua while Pozorrubio’s Tomas Gabuat held off Aldrich Amos, 6-4, 6-3, for the boys’ 12-U title, and unranked Winsome Borgonia lived up to his name and snatched the 10-unisex crown with a 4-2, 4-2 victory over Yoyo Asuncion.
Meanwhile, action shifts to Leyte this week with the holding of the Maasin leg at the Maasin Tennis Club simultaneous with the Iloilo stop at the Ultra Tennis Club. For details, call PPS Sports Program Development director and event organizer Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.
