Tabuena seals title match with Lascuña

Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines. –Paul Lakatos/ Asian Tour

Antonio Lascuña was in control of his two matches on Thursday and kept his surprising repeat bid going, while Miguel Tabuena rallied against two Asian Tour peers as the duo set up an interesting match for the ICTSI The Country Club (TCC) Match Play Invitational title in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Lascuña will come into the title match Friday a bit rested, playing just 32 holes in bundling out Marvin Dumandan, 3&1, and Elmer Salvador, 4&3, in the semifinals as the 52-year-old who never gave himself much of a chance over the wind-swept TCC layout looks to be in fine form towards retaining his title.

“So happy to reach the finals again. I didn’t expect it but I was given a chance and grabbed it,” said Lascuña in Filipino.

Working overtime

Tabuena, the consensus player to beat, needed a literal overtime period to get there. He came back from four holes down with eight to play to clip Angelo Que, 1-up, before returning in the afternoon to show Justin Quiban the door after 20 holes.

A winner on the Asian Tour earlier in the year in India, Tabuena drained a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 second hole to finally eliminate Quiban and cap a draining day.

“I tried to give myself a chance, which I did. I’m just happy to execute it,” said Tabuena, who admitted to having extended himself to get to the title match.

“I just want to focus on my recovery because I’m very, very tired,” he said when asked of his match with Lascuña, who won this title at Villamor last year at the expense of Keanu Jahns.