Kimi Brodeth exudes confidence as she goes for another sweep of the girls’ 16- and 18-and-under titles, this time against a tougher, fired-up field in the PPS-PEPP San Carlos City national juniors championships, which unwrap today (Thursday) at the SJRI Centermall courts in Negros Occidental.
Brodeth dominated at home two weeks ago and sustained her run in Ormoc last week, both Group 2 tournaments under the Palawan Pawnshop juniors tennis program, eyeing more ranking points in this week’s Group I event held as one of the highlights of the host province’s annual Pintaflores Festival celebrations.
She still gained the top seeding in both divisions but the 18-U roster is bolstered by the presence of tough rivals in Judy Ann Padilla, Sanschena Francisco, Jufe-Ann Cocoy, AJ Acabo, Jasmine Jaran, Angelo Vosotros, and Louchelaj Estember.
Padilla, from Ozamiz City, and Acabo, from Zamboanga Sibugay, and Jaran are also vying in the 16-U play with Kate Imalay, Shara Paliwag, Therese Gauran and Sandra Bautista beefing up the cast in the five-day tournament hosted by San Carlos City Mayor Renato Gustilo and Vice Mayor Christopher Carmona.
Bautista and Gauran, meanwhile, loom as the players to beat in 14-U class of the event presented by Dunlop which lured close to 250 entries with all but one of the eight age-group categories featuring 32-player draws.
Also on tap are the Legends 35s and 45s men’s singles, the 40s and 50s men’s doubles and the women’s doubles to be capped by the Open Championship for the men’s singles and men’s doubles from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3. For details, contact Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.
Ma. Caroliean Fiel also shoots for a third straight title in 12-U division that also features Alexa Cruspero, Mae Diamante and Jan Dagoon, while last week’s winner David Sepulveda topbills the boys’ side along with Rafa Callao, Matthew Morris, Armik Serillo, Clemente Barrera III and Andrian Rodriguez.
The boys’ 18-U could be a toss-up between Mcleen Gomera and Hans Cabellon with the likes of Pete Rodriguez, Carl Miasco, Cyril Paster, and Herman Illusorio also all primed for a title crack with Gomera, from Bacolod, Lanao del Norte, also looking to nail the 16-U crown against the likes of Dilao siblings Nhiele and Vhiele, Gio Manito, Kirby Ramacho and Kurt Barrera.
The Dilaos, on the other hand, lead the 14-U field in the event, backed by ProtekTODO, PalawanPay, the Unified Tennis Philippines, and UTR (Universal Tennis Rating), along with Kurt Barrera, Sepulveda, Aaron Tabura, Kenzo Brodeth, Rodrigque, and Morris.