Villamor, Peña duel for crown

MANILA, Philippines – Third seed Juan Gabriel Peña and No. 4 Alberto Villamor fashioned out victories in varying fashions to arrange a showdown for the 18-and-under crown in the second First Gen Juntaphil Metro Age Group Tennis Championships at the Rizal Memorial tennis courts yesterday.

Peña, who survived No.6 Ed Amor, 6-4, 0-6, (10-8), in the quarterfinals, blanked Joshua Santiago in the opening set but dropped the second before recovering in time to hack out a 6-0, 4-6, (10-2) win in their semifinal bout.

But while Peña had to go through some anxious moments to pull through, Villamor took an easier time to gain a crack at the title, scoring a walkover win over second seed Juan Fidel Regis.

In the girls 18-and-under class, top seed Jasmine Ho whipped Claudine Lanzona, 6-0, 6-0, to set up a quarterfinal clash with Joanna Peña, who upset sixth ranked Kim Tomacruz, 4-6, 6-3, (10-6). Others who advanced were Ericka Maralit, Erdilyn Peralta, Shannin Mae Olivarez, Louise Lopez, Alyssa Mendoza and Macy Gonzalez.

Top seed Kyle Parpan overcame Enrique Ferrer, 7-6, 2-6, (10-8), to arrange a semifinal duel with No. 4 Raymark Gulfo in the 16-and-under division of the event sponsored by Smart Communications and presented by First Gen Corp.

Gulfo outclassed Ellison Bingcang, 6-1, 6-1. The other semis clash pits unranked Neil Paez and Betto Orendain, who downed Erickson Marquez, 6-3, 3-6 (10-8), and Andrew Cano.

John Mavrick Victoria stunned top-ranked Hans Asistio, 6-4, 4-6, (10-7), to barge into the semis of the boys’ 14-and-under division. He will face the winner of the Kyle Parpan-Miguel dela Paz duel while Eric Olivarez, Jr. and No. 2 Betto Orendain will tangle for the other final berth in the lower bracket.

Olivarez, meanwhile, cruised to the finals of the 12-and-under class of the tournament sanctioned by Philta and organized by the Junior Tennis Association of the Philippines (Juntaphil) with Wilson as official balls, fashioning out a 6-4, 6-1 win over Miguel dela Paz. He will dispute the title against Christian San Andres, who turned back Bruce Valenzuela, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

In other girls results, No. 4 Marian Capadocia trounced Juvilyn Barquin, 6-2, 6-2, to join Akiko de Guzman in the semis of the 16-and-under category. Capadocia and De Guzman will also slug it out for the 14-and-under championship.

Colleen Sioson won by default over top seed Maia Balce to clinch the first finals berth in the 12-and-under class.