Ivan Manila chalked up a win and a runner-up finish while Sandra Bautista took the top honors in the girls’ division of the PPS-PEPP Brookside Open national juniors championships at the Brookside Hills Tennis Club’s clay courts in Cainta, Rizal over the weekend.
The fourth-ranked Manila trounced No. 5 Tristan Licayan, 6-0, 6-2, in the final of the upset-marred boys’ 16-and-under division while Bautista from Imus, Cavite lived up to her top billing in the girls’ 14-U class, holding off second seed Joy Ansay from Sta. Rosa, Laguna, 7-5, 6-3.
Manila, however, failed to complete a “double” as the San Jose, Nueva Ecija bet dropped a tough 4-6, 5-7, defeat to third ranked Zhul Pantaran from Pagadian City in the premier 18-U category of the Group I tournament presented by Dunlop.
Bautista, on the other hand, came up short in 16-U play after romping off with the 14-U diadem, yielding a 4-6, 6-4, 4-10 loss to Chloe Mercado from QC in the semis of the event backed by ProtekTODO, PalawanPay, the Unified Tennis Philippines and UTR (Universal Tennis Rating).
After hurdling Licayan, Manila looked all set for a twinkill after dropping just five games to reach the 18-U finals, including a 6-2, 6-3 romp over Samuel Davila in the semis. But Pantaran came out fresh from a 1-0(ret.) win over Alfonso Infante in the Last 4 and repulsed Manila in a baseline duel.
Other winners in the event, which served as prelude to the PPS Brookside Open, put up by Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro, were Licayan (14-U), Quezon City’s Zachary Morales (boys’ 12-U), unranked Alexa Milliam from La Carlota (girls’ 18-U), and Maristella Torrecampo from Los Baños (girls’ 12-U).
Licayan, also from Imus, ripped Paranaque’s Gavin Kraut, 6-1, 6-2; Morales foiled QC’s Yñigo Naredo, 6-3, 6-3; Milliam dominated Kaye Mustaza from Bulacan, 6-0, 6-1; and Torrecampo crushed Cadee Dagoon from Olongapo City, 6-0, 6-1.
