IT WAS a mix of local and visiting netters, who emerged winners at the recent Cebuana Lhuillier Age Group Tennis Championship Series leg held in Coron, Palawan.
The local bets were led by the Matta siblings from Puerto Princesa, who dominated their age groups, led by Marianne Almera Matta, who won three titles.
Matta was untouchable in the girls’ 16-under and 18-under as she won both age groups in impressive fashion against different opponents.
She swept aside 14-under champion Crisha Santos from Puerto Princesa, 6-2, 6-2, for the 16-under crown, then blanked local bet from Coron Maeshi Gabayan, 6-0, 6-0, in the finals of the 18-under. Matta added another title when she teamed up with Santos in the girls’ 18-under doubles’ event, where they beat Gabayan and Eicille Molina, 8-0, in the finals of the tournament.
Her younger siblings Miguel Javier ruled the boys’ 12-under with an easy 6-2, 6-2 victory over another Puerto Princese bet Andreaskoepf Ubay, while Jorge Miguel demolished Abraham delos Santos, 4-0, 4-0, to take the 10-under unisex crown in the tournament backed by Dunlop as official ball.
“It is always good to see a family where the children all play the same sport and this is where the parents play a big role in supporting their children in sports. We congratulate the Matta family for its success in our Coron leg of the series,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, President/CEO of the sponsoring Cebuana Lhuillier Group, which has been behind this grassroots tennis developmental program for the past 12 years.
Familiar names also came out winners, including many-time leg champions like Marc Nicole Suson from Cebu City, who beat another veteran campaigner in Stephen Zion Guia from Dipolog City, 6-1, 6-4, in the finals of the boys’ 18-under.
Guia earlier claimed the boys’ 16-under, taming Coron bet Rayven Lance Hitosis, 6-1, 6-3.
Raineir Angelo Selmar from Bacoor, Cavite edged out Jacob Erin Diago from Bais City, 6-0, 4-6, 10-0, in a three-setter for the boys’ 14-under title. Selmar also partnered with Luis Ong to share the boys’ 14-under doubles’ title, beating the duo of Miguel Matta and Ubay, 8-2.
Winners in the boys’ 18-under doubles age group were Hitosis and Ong following the withdrawal of Suson and Sebastian Lhuillier in the finals.