FRANCIS Rosales and Nicole Villar hacked out a pair of victories each in varying fashions to share MVP honors and lead the Cebuanos’ domination of the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Ubay, Bohol leg age-group tennis tournament at the Sto. Niño Tennis Courts over the weekend.
The top-seeded Rosales toppled fellow Cebuano and No. 2 Cesar Salimbangon, 6-3, 6-2, in the boys’ 16-and-under finals then trounced Paul Coderos, 6-2, 6-3, to clinch the 18-U diadem, completing the two-title romp without dropping a set in the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Dunlop as official ball.
But it was unranked Villar who produced a pair of big wins in the girls’ side, edging fancied Bless Coderos twice, first in a grueling 16-U finale, 7-6(11-9), 3-6, 10-8, then holding off her top-seeded rival, 6-4, 6-4, in the premier division of the event backed by Asiatraders Corp. and sanctioned by the United Tennis Philippines, made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg.
“This circuit is all about providing the youth the venue where they can showcase their skills and talent and at the same time help in discovering and producing future champions. Villar is one of them and we expect new faces to emerge in our weekly ranking tournaments all over the country,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.
Other Cebuano winners were Douglas Maravillas III, who trampled Kyle Bermoy, 6-1, 6-2, for the boys’ 14-U title; Risa Coderos, who bested Princess Golosinda, 6-1, 6-3, in the girls’ 12-U finas; Salimbangon, who rebounded from his loss to Rosales with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over John Coderos in the 14-U championship; and Ma. Juliana Maravillas, who held off Villar, 6-3, 7-5, to nail the girls’ 14-U diadem.
Local bet Zan Mayron Orioque, on the other hand, took the 10-unisex trophy via 4-2, 4-2 victory over Matthew Siason.
Meanwhile, action resumes April 28 for the PPS-PEPP Agoo, La Union leg while San Pablo City, Laguna will host the next stop on April 29-May 2. Listup is ongoing. For details, call PPS Sports Program Development director and event organizer Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.