Eala seizes CPSP-Philta boys’ plum

Miko Eala stamped his class over a flashy Aljon Talatayod, 6-4, 6-1, Sunday to capture the boys’ singles title of the CPSP-Philta International Junior Tennis Championships on Sunday at Philippine Columbian Association shell/clay courts.

The 15-year-old Eala, a member of the national junior Davis Cup team, found answers to just about every shot of the 17-year-old Talatayod.

The relentless Talatayod, reigning junior Most Valuable Player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for Arellano, tried to keep the match close against Eala, who is coming off a runner-up finish in an ITF juniors meet in Jakarta, Indonesia, early this month.

But there’s no stopping the Colegio San Agustin student who overpowered Talatayod from the baseline while hustling by the net in returning Talatayod’s vaunted drop shots.

It was an all-Filipino semifinals in the boys’ division with Jose Maria Pague and Marcus del Rosario also making the Final Four.

Eala and partner Nio Tria fell to Kelvin Du of Australia and Tim Thomas Gauntlett of Hong Kong, 6-2, 7-6 (3), in the boys’ doubles championship.

Kim Yu-jin of South Korea and Lin Fang-An of Chinese Taipei overpowered third seeds Sung Hsing-ju and Tsai tun-chin of Chinese Taipei, 1-6, 6-0, (10-5), for the girls’ doubles title.