Taiwanese Kuen Yi Lee and Japanese Ryuki Matsuda defeated their respective compatriots to capture the girls’ and boys’ crowns in the Phinma-PSC International Juniors Tennis Championships Week 1 yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
The second-seeded Lee toppled Ting Pei Chang, 6-4, 6-1, to reign supreme in the girls’ singles while the unseeded Matsuda stunned second pick Seita Watanabe, 6-4, 7-5, to clinch the boys’ singles crown.
Both champion players gained 40 ranking points in the Grade 4 International Tennis Federation 18-under category event sponsored by the Phinma Group of Companies and the Philippine Sports Commission.
Chang failed to display her strong form that ousted Filipino top seed Khim Iglupas in the semis, 7-6 (3), 6-3, by yielding to Lee’s all-around game in the second set. She settled for 30 ITF points.
Bryan Otico, the Filipino top seed in the boys’ side who took an early exit in the singles, redeemed himself in the doubles as he teamed up with Watanabe to repulse Malaysian Christian Chin and India’s Digvijay Singh, 4-6, 6-2 (10-7) and clinch the crown worth 30 ITF points. Chin and Singh settled for 20 points each.
