Zaragosa seals s’final duel with Manotoc

CANLUBANG, Laguna—Rupert Zaragosa birdied half of the 14 holes he played against Kristopher Arevalo yesterday and posted an emphatic 5 and 4 victory to reach the Final Four of the NGAP’s Philippine national match play championship presented by the MVP Sports Foundation.

The pint-sized Zaragosa broke away from a 1-up lead after the front nine with four birdies in their first five holes at the back to bundle out the reigning 13-14 Junior World champion and arrange a semifinal clash with Gabriel Manotoc at Cangolf’s South Course here.

“I just putted very well in the back nine. That was the difference,” Zaragosa told the Inquirer. “It would have been a very close match had my putting not clicked. Kristopher is a good player.”

Manotoc, meanwhile, didn’t swing a club in advancing as No. 2 see Jun Tea-yang, a Korean expatriate playing out of Riviera in Cavite, didn’t show up for their quarterfinal tussle.

Zaragosa and Manotoc will reprise their Final Four clash in 2011, when Rupert birdied the 18th and 19th holes to prevail and eventually win the title against John Kier Abdon.

Abdon won’t have a chance of avenging that loss after Gen Nagai showed him the door with a 2-up victory.

Nagai will next clash with JP de Claro, who trounced Andres Saldana, 4 and 3, even as top ladies’ seed Daniella Uy beat Sofia Chabon, 4 and 2. Uy next faces Mikhaela Fortuna, a walkover winner over Korean Seo Won-kwon.