The leading juniors and a slew of rising stars from the Big City and elsewhere take center stage as they clash for top honors and ranking points in the PPS-PEPP Valle Verde Country Club National Juniors Tennis Championships, which got under way Thursday, March 30, in Pasig.
More than 200 entries make up the huge cast in the nine age-category Group I tournament presented by Dunlop with the boys’ 14-, 16- and 18-and-under classes luring 32-player casts each.
Tristan Licayan, Lexious Cruz, Gavin Kraut, Zachary Morales, Gabrio Serillo and Yñigo Naredo banner the 14-U field, while Kendrick Bona, Paul Gabriel, Licayan and Morales, along with Kean Enriquez and Kraut looming as the players to watch in the 16-U division.
Vince Serna, Mateo Rivas, Ivan Manila and Thomas Bernardo brace for a spirited battle in the premier division of the event under the country’s longest talent-search put up by Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.
The title chase in the distaff side is also expected to be wide-open with Chloe Mercado, Jelena Jana, Beatrice Panganiban and Sandra Bautista gearing up for a challenging week as they lead the field in both the 16- and 18-U divisions.
Maristella Torrecampo, Ave Policarpio, Francesca Ong and Dania Bulanadi, on the other hand, are in for a fierce battle in the girls’ 14-U class with Torrecampo also eyeing a “twinkill” as she is also the top seed in the 12-U play of the event backed by ProtekTODO, PalawanPay, the Unified Tennis Philippines and UTR (Universal Tennis Rating).
Leading the boys’ 12-U cast are Serillo, siblings Alexandre and Aaron Coyiuto and Mikael Honrado while Naseem Serillo, Sofia Miramontes, Stella Policarpio and Juliana Coyiuto are tipped to dispute the 10-unisex trophy.
For details, contact tournament organizer Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.