Patricia Velez snares 2 titles anew

Patricia Velez kept the momentum of her two-title romp last week, winning the girls’ 16- and 18-and-under titles while Klyde Lagarde took the boys’ 14-U crown in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age group tennis tournament at M’lang Tennis Club in M’lang, North Cotabato, Monday.

Velez, Davao’s leading junior netter, overpowered Jazzelle Madis, 6-3, 6-2, to pocket the 16-U diadem, then smothered Arnie Joy Diaz, 6-2, 6-0, in the centerpiece division to duplicate her feat in Gen. Santos City.

Lagarde, on the other hand, stunned top seed Wilfred Bentillo, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals and dominated John David Velez, 6-1, 6-0, as the rising Gen. Santos City bet, ranked fourth in the 32-player draw, snared the 14-U title in the Group 3 event hosted by Mayor Joselito Piñol and presented by Technifibre.

Jarel Edanga took the boys’ 18-U plum with a  6-3, 6-4 win over top seed Jefferson Alqueza.