MA. Angelica Novis and Reyman Saldivar Jr. shoot for two titles each as they lead the chase for top honors in the PPS-PEPP Digos City national age-group tennis tournament which reels off today (Friday) at the Digos City Tennis Club in Davao del Sur.
Novis hopes to live up to her top seeding in the girls’ 16- and 18-and-under singles with the Malita, Davao bet upbeat but wary of her chances against the likes of Coleen Carvajal, Juliana Carvajal, Mae Torrecareon and Zkyla Cervantes in the Group 2 tournament presented by Dunlop.
Saldivar, on the other hand, also faces an uphill battle in the boys’ 14- and 16-U sides with the rising Kabacan, North Cotabato star going up against Charles Jumawan, Yassan Al Anazi and Ben Flores along with Kurt Haro and Herald Aton in the five-day event serving as the penultimate stop of the six-leg Mindanao swing of the circuit put up by Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala.
“While we expect the local bets to shine, we also see a number of players from other towns and cities to emerge from this tournament as we continue to help discover future stars, especially from the countryside,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.
Brent Magno, Justin Ito, Haro and Aton, meanwhile, are tipped to dispute the boys’ 18-U crown in the tournament sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg.
Other titles to be disputed are the 12-U and 10-unisex with five more up for grabs in the doubles 10-U, 14- and 18-U sides.
Meanwhile, Tagum City will host the last stop on March 7-11. For details and listup, call PPS-PEPP Sports Program Development director Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.
