Johnny Arcilla gears up for another stab at Open glory but a slew of other aces go all out to foil his back-to-back title bid in the Zentro Open National Open Championships, which gets going Wednesday at the Zentro Tennis and Recreational courts in Apalit, Pampanga.
The multi-titled Arcilla will be coming into the Group A event presented by Dunlop brimming with confidence, blasting Charles Kinaadman, 6-2, 6-4, to nail his third Open diadem in the season about to end in last week’s Brookside Open in Cainta, Rizal. He also teamed up with Ronard Joven to crush Kinaadman and Jose Maria Pague, 6-4, 6-0, for the doubles crown.
But the veteran Davis Cupper, who also reigned in the Puerto Princesa Open and in the Pintaflores Festival in San Carlos, Negros Occidental, expects a tougher, more challenging week with Kinaadman, winner of the Gov. Jubahib Cup in Davao del Norte, and Pague, who topped the Buglasan Open in Dumaguete City, also setting out in top form despite coming up short in their respective bids last week.
Others tipped to crowd the fancied bets in the week-long tournament serving as part of the PPS-PEPP circuit put up by Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro are Vicente Anasta, John Tomacruz, Noel Damian Jr., John Altiche, Nilo Ledama, Kristian Tesorio, Elvin Geluz, Alberto Villamor, Raymund Diaz, Joseph Tiamson, Loucas Fernandez and John Accion.
Meanwhile, action shifts to the City of Naga, Cebu for the Dagitab Festival Open on Dec. 14-21. For details, contact event organizer Bobby Mangunay at 09154046464.
Jed Olivarez, who finished runner-up in Jubahib Cup, is also in the hunt in the Zentro Open backed by ProtekTODO, PalawanPay, the Unified Tennis Philippines and UTR (Universal Tennis Rating).
Meanwhile, to accommodate the big number of entries, a qualifier will be held today (Tuesday) with four berths up for grabs in the main 64-player draw of the event.
Leading the bidders are Juan Lapore, Jaffary Cariga, Stephen Catipon, Philippe Coteron, Michael Tulio, Kiandrederick Sulit, James Mina and John Ayson.
The 10-time PCA Open winner Arcilla has also tapped a new partner in Ledama in pursuit of another title in the men’s doubles where they are the No. 2 seed. Anasta-Olivarez gains the top seeding in the roster that also features the pairs of Kinaadman-Pague, Damian-Villamor, Altiche-Hans Asistio, Geluz-Marco Macalintal, Alexis Acabo-Fernandez and Franklin Encarnacion-Tomacruz.