Otico saves day for PH netters

JOHN Bryan Otico employed his speed and smarts to overcome his Indonesian foe and barge into the boys singles semifinals of the PSC-Phinma International Juniors Tennis Championships yesterday at Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

The 16-year-old 9th grader at De La Salle-Zobel, one of the best students of Philippine Tennis Academy, defeated Muhammad Althaf Dhaifullah, 6-2, 6-3.

But while it was a rousing win for Otico, PTA stablemate and last week’s girls champ Khim Iglupas bowed to Japan’s Ayumi Hirata, 6-2, 6-4.

“It was very hard to sustain intensity playing that kind of grind for two weeks,” said PTA coach Jun Toledo of Iglupas, who lost to a fresher Japanese foe who didn’t play in week 1.

Top seed Ayumi Miyamoto of Japan bowed to compatriot Himari Sato, 6-2, 6-1; Chinese Ying Yi Yang bowing to Naho Sato of Japan, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3; and Wang Xinyu, also of China, dropping to Japan’s Satoko Sueno, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Otico, who won his first ITF title in Vietnam early this year, will continue his championship hunt against Week 1 champ Naoki Tajima of Japan.

Tajima thumped compatriot Kazuki Shimizu, 6-4, 6-3, to make the semifinals. Japan’s James Trotter outlasted Thai Kittirat Kerdlaphee,  6-7 (7-1), 6-4, 7-5, to seal the other semifinal duel with No. 2 Yeongseok Jeong, who routed Taiwan’s Ho Jun Lee, 6-1, 6-3.