JUFE Ann Cocoy survived a pair of semifinal scares then dominated her rivals in the finals to sweep two singles crowns in the PPS-PEPP Bacolod regional age-group tennis tournament at the Centercourt and Panaad Tennis Courts recently.
The second-seed Cocoy wore down Faith Banico, 4-6, 6-1, 10-4, in the Final Four then toppled Nicole Villar, 6-3, 6-2, to clinch the girls’ 14-and-under title. As an unranked player in the 16-U play, the rising La Carlota star shocked top seed Kiana De Asis, 7-5, 2-6, 10-6, in the semis then ripped Villar again, 6-2, 6-3, to emerge the lone “double” winner in the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala and presented by Dunlop.
Third seed Fernando Po turned back sibling Alekzander Po, 5-7, 6-1, 10-4, to pocket the 16-U plum and the MVP honors in the boys’ side of the event backed by Asiatraders Corp. and sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines, made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg.
Cocoy actually made it a three-title feat as she teamed up with Jasmin Jaran to beat Ma. Petrina Aguirre and Banico, 8-5, for the 14-U doubles title.
“Week after week emerges new faces and this is what the PPS-PEPP circuit is all about – produce as many talents who could be tapped, developed and trained to become future members of national pool and teams,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.
Only two top picks went on to rule their respective divisions, underscoring the level playing field in the busy summer tour of the PPS-PEPP, including Khenz Justiniani, also from La Carlota, in the boys’ 14-U category and Louise Paliwag from Tayasan, Negros, in the 10-unisex class.
Justiniani also pulled off a tough win in the semis, 5-7, 6-0, 11-9, over Carl Zaragosa but dominated No. 2 Pete Rodriguez, 6-2, 6-0, in the finals, while Paliwag posted three shutout wins then held off Therese Gauaran, 5-3, 5-3, in the finals.
Two other La Carlota bets shared the spotlight with No. 3 Karl Baran upending top seed Reynan Mahusay, 6-2, 6-0, in the semis then trouncing Arvin Toledo, 6-0, 6-2, to claim the boys’ 18-U diadem while Kiana De Asis took the girls’ premier title with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Villar.
San Carlos City’s Herman Illusoria and Banico from Siquijor took the 12-U titles with the former thwarting Kirby Ramacho, 6-3, 6-4, and the latter scoring a 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 reversal over Abigail Cerilio.
Other doubles winners were Fernando Po-Baran (18-U), Alekzander Po-Peter Rodriguez (14-U), De Asis-Jewel Milliam (18-U), and Paliwag-Daveine Gauran (10-unisex).