Cebuano netters crowd PHILTA rankings

CEBU, Philippines - No Cebuano, except for men’s top-ranked Johnny Arcilla, whose mother is from this province, has made it to the top of the rankings of the various age categories of the Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA).

There are, however, many who made it to the top 30 of the various categories.

One parent said that the main reason for this decline could be the failure of Cebuanos to participate in PHILTA-sanctioned events.

Ken Salimbangon of the Cebu International Tennis Centre Inc., noted that the tennis parents here are not as united as those from other parts of the country.

“Ambot lahi naman ni sila karon, magkasuyaay naman gani nuon imbes magtinabangay. Di pud sila ganahan mugasto kaayo sa ila mga anak kay sayang ra daw ang kwarta nya mapildi ra gihapon. (They are now different since they are envious of each other instead of helping each other. They also do not want to spend much for their children since they feel it is a waste of money since the kids would lose anyway.)

“Unsaon pagka-expose sa bata kung di nimu paduwaon? Adtuon pa man gani namo ang Manila sa una para lang makaduwa ang mga bata. Karon, maski Consolacion ra, di sila muadto,” (How can the kids be exposed if they are not made to play? We used to go to Manila so our child can play. Now, they would not even come to Consolacion) said one tennis parent.

Even the Siso siblings—Sallydine, Sally Mae and Bernardine who have dominated several categories before, are not in the top of their respective classes anymore. It could be because they are now in college and have limited events to join.

Except for the eldest, Sallydine, Sally Mae and Bernardine still continue to train and look forward to finishing college so they can play full time tennis already and not only on inter-school competitions.

The latest PHILTA ranking has Arthur Craig Pantino with the highest ranking being no. 7 in the boys’ 14 and no. 12 in the boys’ 12.

Pantino is also no. 41 in the boys’ 16 even as he is only 11 years old.

Pantino could have made it to the top in the boys’ 12, but he has not been playing in that age-bracket anymore following the advice of his coaches in Manila for him to play against the older players instead.

Jacob Lagman, who has not been playing a lot anymore as well, is at no. 22 in the boys’ 18.

Cesar Kristopher Salimbangon is also ranked 22 under the unisex 10-under class.

Kristin Renee Salimbangon is ranked 9th in the girls’ 12 and no. 23 in the girls’ 14.

Zethley Mae Alferez is currently no. 18 in the girls’ 12 and 29th in the girls’ 14.

Jana Pages, for her part, is no. 20 in the girls’ 14 and no. 21 in the girls’ 16 while Allysa Bornia is no. 28 in the girls’ 14 and no. 25 in the 16-under while Shyne Villareal is ranked 30th in the girls’ 14.

Sally Mae Siso is at 24th in the girls’ 18 and in the women’s open division.

Israel Abarquez is at no. 17 in the men’s open including the Fil-foreign netters as Kennex Abadia and Jacob Lagman stand at 30th place with five others.

Arcilla remains the no. 1 men’s open player minus the Fil-foreign players, who despite missing most of the Philta-sanctioned events have gained ranking through their ITF points which has big conversion on PHILTA points.

PHILTA points are given to top performers of all its sanctioned events. Points given depend upon the classification of a tournament a player is joining.  (FREEMAN)