THE Philippine girls’ tennis team started strong with three straight wins, just enough to secure an impressive Top 4 finish despite falling short in the semifinals of the ITF World Juniors Tennis Competition in Isah Town, Bahrain.
Under the guidance of coach Czarina Arevalo and with 12-year-old Maristella Torrecampo leading the team, the Filipina girls strung up elimination-round victories over Syria, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan.
However, they stumbled in the latter stages, losing to Sri Lanka in the semifinals and then to Lebanon in the battle for third place.
Competing in the Girls’ U14 category, the Philippines started strong with a commanding 3-0 sweep of Syria in Group E.
They continued their winning streak against Kyrgyzstan with a 2-1 victory. Torrecampo set the tone by shutting out Leila Iliasova in singles, before teaming up with Ayl Zyza Gonzaga to defeat Aliana Shadybekova and Saara Myzaeva, 6-2, 6-2, in the doubles.
Ella Mhae Paglalunan put up a fight, but fell to Myzaeva in the other singles’ match.
Against Turkmenistan, the Filipinas faced an early setback when Paglalunan lost to Aylar Kakabayeva.
However, Torrecampo levelled the score with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Nazli Hudaygulyyeva, before sealing the victory alongside Gonzaga in the doubles’ match.
The duo outplayed Kakabayeva and Hudaygulyyeva, 6-4, 6-4, to complete the sweep.
The semifinals proved challenging as Sri Lanka overpowered the young Filipinas with a decisive 3-0 sweep.
In the placement match against Lebanon, Torrecampo prevented a shutout with a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) win over Leana El Samad.
However, Gonzaga fell to Lama Naaman in the singles, and the doubles’ duo of Gonzaga and Paglalunan was unable to overcome Naaman and Haifa Taha Al Jundi, sealing the Philippines’ fourth-place finish.