LOCAL tennis ace Jana Pages and junior standout Khim Iglupas hurdled their respective opponents to barge into the girls’ 18-under singles semifinals of the 14th Truflex national age-group championships at Haruhay Dream Resort in Lapu Lapu City yesterday.
Pages, last year’s POC-PSC Batang Pinoy national champion, routed Nathalie Alipe, 6-1, 6-1, to forge a final-four clash with Iglupas, who dominated Toni Rose Raymundo, 6-2, 6-1.
Top seed Roxanne Resma made the semifinals without a sweat after Quinna Mae Manas defaulted their match.
The tournament, a major part of the city’s “Tennis Festival” highlighted by the staging of Philippines-Thailand Davis Cup tie later in the week, is sponsored by Truflex Sports Surfacing Corp. and presented by Smart. It is also supported by Megaworld’s Mactan New Town, Foton Motors Philippines, Cebuana Lhuillier, Bayswater, Thirsty Fruit Shakes, and Plantation Bay Resort and Spa.
In the boys’ 18-under play at Amores Tennis Club, top seed Dave Mosqueda gained the quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash of Ka Yau Leung. He will take on the winner between Francis John Ray Quino and Marc Norman Enriquez.
Also making the next round were Changmai Necesario, Emmanuel Vacalares and Joshua Kinaadman. Necesario won by default over Jared Codilla, Vacalares bested Jarryd William Chi Laurel, 6-4, 6-1, while Kinaadman pipped a gritty Clyde Dale Bienes, 6-1, 0-6, 10-7.
Over at Lapu Lapu Tennis Courts, top seed Nio Tria rolled ito the second round of the boys’ 12-under with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Fernando Po. He will face Klein Russel Canete who progressed with a 6-4, 6-0 triumph over Harlan Hogan.
Advancing to the quarterfinals in the girls’ 14-under, also at Amores, were Aditva Karuna-ratne who crushed Beverly Olive Enriquez, 6-0, 6-0; Zethley Mae Alferes who walked over Shyryn Salazar; and Joy Camille Sanico who outlasted Win Ka Lin, 3-6, 6-4, 10-4.
Kianna Louise de Asis made the girls’ 12-under second round with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Lyra Mae Repollo.