Iglupas, Villanueva hurdle Phinma rivals

Khim Iglupas and Rafa Villanueva bested foreign rivals Wednesday to set in motion their bid in the girls’ side of the PSC-Phinma International Juniors Tennis Championships Week 1 at Manila Polo Club in Makati City.

Iglupas, seeking a repeat of her title romp here last year, overpowered Korean Hyeran Yun with her superb all-around game, dropping just two games in a 6-2, 6-0 victory; while Villanueva trounced Thai Chanthel Thongphok, 6-2, 6-1, in the lower half of the 32-player draw headed by top seed and Week 2 winner Ayumi Miyamoto of Japan and second seed Naho Sato, also of Japan.

Iglupas, settling for No. 3, seeks a quarterfinal berth against the winner in the Tiffany Nguyen-Nagomi Higashitani duel while Villanueva hopes to sustain her charge against the victor in the Sato-Xin Wang clash in the Grade 4 ITF tournament.

Shaira Rivera missed joining her compatriots in the next round, yielding to Taiwanese Yuelin Chen, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(5), while Korean Han Byeol Lee blasted Jackqueline Ho, 6-1, 6-0.nd Japan’s Satoko Sueno ripped Thai Parima Leenabanchong, 6-3, 6-1.

Meanwhile, John Otico pulled off a tough 7-5, 7-5 victory over Japanese Tsubasa Kato late Tuesday to advance to the second round against third seed P. Kerdlaphee of Thailand, who held off David Marshall Nguyen of the US, 7-6(5), 6-3.

Arthur Pantino also barged into the next phase by turning back No. 7 C. Wang, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, for a clash with Vietnamese Phuong Van Nguyen, who ousted local bet Jerome Romualdez, 6-3, 6-3.