Iglupas survives pesky Japanese, keeps title hopes alive

Khim Iglupas dug deep from her experience to overcome her youthful but tough Japanese rival yesterday to barge into the Week 2 semifinals of the Phinma-PSC international junior tennis championships.

Iglupas, the 18-year-old No. 104 in the world junior ranking, overcame an erratic second set to prevail, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, over 14-year-old Ange Oby Kajuru at Philippine Columbian Association shell/clay courts.

The tournament had to  abandon the outdoor Rizal Memorial Tennis Center due to incessant rains.

Top seed Iglupas, the only remaining local player in the singles division, will next take on the winner between fourth seed Shiho Tsukuda of Japan and No. 6 Li Xuanjin of China.

The boys’ singles semifinals will be littered with gutsy Japanese Ryuya Ata, Tomoya Ikeda and Keisuke Saitoh.

Ata stopped compatriot Kazuki Shimizu, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, to arrange a semifinal encounter with Ikeda.

Ata shocked Filipino top seed Bryan Otico in the first round while qualifier Saitoh eliminated Filipino No. 3 Arthur Pantino.