Unrated Pang topples Samala for semis seat

Unranked Michelle Pang marched into the girls’ 18-under semifinals after eliminating second seed Kristel Samala, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, yesterday in the 2003 Head-Penn Tennis Tour at the Manila Polo Club.

In other matches, top seed Ivy de Castro outclassed Marieta Erorita, 6-0, 6-0, Anna Isabel Culaba beat fourth seed Ma. Angelica Ngo, 7-5, 6-1, and Jessica Agra won by default over Katrina Pamintuan.

Pang also entered the 16-under semifinals following a 6-1, 6-3 upset win over No. 3 Anna Denise Culaba while No. 1 De Castro blanked Karishma Dayaran, 6-0, 6-0, No. 2 Agra trounced Amoranto, 6-1, 7-6 (3), and Ana Isabel Soriano conquered Samantha Hiran, 6-3, 6-1, to complete the cast.

In the 14-under division, No, 2 Anna Buenviaje outplayed Lim, 7-6 (4), 6-3, No. 3 Isobelle Culaba defeated Mary Joy Altiche, 6-3, 6-2, No. 4 Sarah Chan survived Santiago, 6-1, 7-6 (6), and No. 1 Trudy Amoranto won by default over Isabela Escueta to reach the semifinals.

Semifinalists in the 12-under class were No. 1 Lim, No. 2 Liza Magaway, Joan Therese Opulencia and Santiago.

In the boys’ 18-under division, fourth seed Miguel Narvaez struggled past JR Dimayuga, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0, to join Jandrick de Castro, Arithmetico Lim, Lawrence Magaway, Boris Chavez, James Murrell, Kyle Dandan and Michael Basco in the quarterfinals.

Winners in the 16-under class were Arithmetico Lim, Kyle Dandan, Michael Basco, Miguel Narvaez, Christian Canlas, James Murrell, Daniel Macalino and Johnwill Baldonado while in the 14-under division were Christian Canlas, Daniel Macalino, Joshua Tan Ho, Jose Lorenzo Opulencia, Patrick Arevalo, Jeffrey Calcita and Mark Balce.

In the 12-under category, unseeded Pocholo Macalino ousted No. 8 Nicole Magaway, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, and No. 7 Juan Gabriel Pena downed Joseph Suyosa, 6-3, 6-4, to enter the quarterfinals together with Gerard Michael Ngo, Patrick Arevalo, Edwin Olivarez Jr., Tomic Apacible, Akio Sy and Joseph Baldonado. In the unisex 10-under class, the quarterfinalists were Pocholo Macalino, Noel Agra, Alberto Villamor, Leander Lazaro, Joshua Tan Ho, Tsutomo Fukushima, Tim Polero and Kyle Cordero.