Joshea Malazarte pulled off a pair of lopsided victories over higher ranked rivals, including a 4-1, 4-1 romp over third seed Mia Gemida in the final, to capture the singles crown in the premier girls’ division in the PPS-PEPP Pintaflores Festival national age-group tournament in San Carlos, Negros Occidental recently.
The fourth-ranked rising star from Butuan City earlier toppled No. 2 Khymberly McKenzie, 4-1, 4-0, in the semis then sustained her form to blast Gemida, who eased out Nicole Vilar, 4-2, 4-1, in the upper half of the draw of the 18-and-under division of the Group I event held as part of the host city’s Pintaflores Festival celebrations and organized by Criston Carmona.
John David Velez, on the other hand, fought off symptoms-like flu and thwarted Cedric Bravo, 2-4, 4-0, 10-4, to claim the boys’ 16-U diadem but the top-seeded bet, now based in Ozamiz City, yielded the 18-U title to Puerto Princesa’s Raven Hitosis, who scored a 1-0(ret.) win in the event sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg.
Other winners were Iloilo City’s Francis De Juan (10-unisex), Kirby Ramacho from San Carlos City (boys’ 12-U), Raymund Goco from Bogo, Cebu (boys’ 14-U), Faith Banico from Siquijor (girls’ 12-U), McKenzie from Cebu (girls’ 14-U) and San Carlos City’s Bliss Bayking (girls’ 18-U).
“With no player posting a twinkill in singles and the lesser lights shining only underscored the level playing field as new faces continue to emerge in all PPS-PEPP tournaments, further boosting our talent-search program,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.
The unranked De Juan beat second seed Christian Laguna, 5-3, 4-0; Ramacho upended top seed Renante Bravo, 4-1, 4-1; the unseeded Goco dominated No. 2 Kendrick Bona, 4-1, 4-2; Banico ripped Elsmarie Denopol, 4-0, 4-0; McKenzie turned back Wendy Galanza, 5-4(4), 5-3; and Bayking foiled Gemida, 4-2, 4-2.
Malazarte later teamed up with Paula Uy to nip Bayking and Gemida, 8-6, for the 18-U doubles plum with Velez and Bravo pocketing the boys’ title with an 8-3 rout of Diego Barrientos and Hitosis. Other doubles winners were Jasmine Jaran- Galanza; and Gerald Gemida-Goco (14-U); and Christian Laguna-Kenzo Brodeth (10-unisex).
