Ma. Angelica Novis bucked a scare from the Carvajal siblings and annexed another two-title sweep while Ryan Alga pulled off a shock win in the boys’ singles of the PPS-PEPP Tagum City national age-group tennis tournament in Davao del Norte yesterday.
Novis, 16, thwarted Juliana Carvajal’s tough stand in the first set and went on to post a 6-4, 6-0 win in the semis then whipped Hanna Amazona, 6-0, 6-2, to rule her age bracket in the Group 2 tournament presented by Dunlop.
The rising Malita star also faced stiff resistance from Coleen Carvajal but recovered in time to eke out a 6-3, 4-6, 10-4 decision, also in the semis of the premier division before repeating over Amazona, 6-1, 6-1, at the Tagum City Tennis Club to duplicate her two-title romp in Digos last week.
The fourth-ranked Alga, meanwhile, stunned top seed Reyman Saldivar Jr., 6-0, 6-1, in the semis then held off No. 3 Khobe Dumlao, 7-6(8), 6-4, to snare the 16-U diadem and spark a rash of reversals in the five-day event hosted by Mayor Allan Rellon and sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala.
Meanwhile, a huge field will slug it out in the Davao leg beginning tomorrow (Thursday), which will coincide with the Araw ng Davao celebrations. For details and listup, call PPS-PEPP Sports Program Development director Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.
Unseeded Kenneth Eufemiano, however, stopped Alga in the 18-U finals, scoring a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory to share the spotlight with Tagum’s Chelsea Bernaldez, who also came away with two victories in the girls’ 12- and 14-U sides of the event sanctioned by the by Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg.
