Smart-Head jr satellite starts Monday

HOPING to provide the national team with fresh, young talents, the Smart-Head junior satellite tennis caps its 14th season with the Manila leg set May 28 to June 3 at the Meralco tennis courts in Ortigas.

Some 500 players in five age groups will see action in the event which helped discovered the likes of Francis Casey Alcantara and Jeson Patrombon.

“Tennis is seen as an expensive sport but the truth is this is one of the sports I think we can really excel,” said Smart Communications executive Noel Lorenzana, a former netter himself.

Lorenzana presided over the press launch yesterday at the Smart Tower in Makati along with Epok Quimpo of Smart Sports, Arleen Lindo of the sponsoring Chris Sports and Liza Tang-Yuquico of Dynamic Sports which distributes Head equipment.

The Manila leg is the 12th stop of the city-hopping event where top players like 12-year-old Cenon Gonzales and his 14-year-old brother Angelo Gonzales are also slated to compete.

Lindo said the P4-million tournament aims to discover untapped tennis talents from the grassroots.

The careers of Patrombon and Alcantara blossomed after dominating their respective age-group divisions a few years back. Patrombon is now the highest ranked Filipino at 950th in the men’s circuit, while Alcantara competes in the US NCAA division 1 with Fresno State. Both are members of the Philippine Davis Cup squad.

The tournament has had stops in Dumaguete, Subic, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.