MANILA, Philippines - Metro Manila’s Betto Orendain bucked the searing summer heat and two tough rivals to capture the 14- and 16-and under boys’ singles crown in the Juntaphil Cup at the Greenfields Tennis and Country Club in San Fernando, Pampanga last week.
The 13-year-old Orendain toppled Argil Canizares in the 14-and-under final then held off Christian San Andres in the 16-and-under class to emerge the lone two-division winner in the weeklong tournament, a Philta-sanctioned Group 2 event organized by Juntaphil with First Gen as presentor and Smart as chief sponsor.
Keff Gamana foiled Alberto Villamor’s double title bid as he bagged the 22-and-under boys’ singles plum while Villamor settled for the 18-and-under title with a victory over John Altiche of Valenzuela.
Vince Salas of Angeles City bested Eric Olivarez Jr. of Parañaque to cop the 12-and-under crown while Michael Eala topped Raffaela Villanueva for the 10-and-under unisex title in the event backed by Technifibre Balls, APM Agricom, Accel and friends of Juntaphil, including Vic Buencamino, Gigi Travers, Orlando Galang, Teiji Kimura and Victor Co.
Crizzabelle Paulino defeated Angela Sunga for the 16-and-under girls crown while Sunga beat Erika Manduriao to win the 14-and-under girls plum. Manduriao, on the other hand, prevailed over Chrislyn Sioson to capture the 12-and-under diadem.
A total of 188 players from Tarlac, Urdaneta, Olongapo, Dagupan, San Pablo, Angeles, Iloilo, Bacolod and Metro Manila took part in the tournament.
Meanwhile, the second Juntaphil-organized tournament, dubbed the First Gen Juntaphil Metro Age Group Championships (Group 1), will be held May 3-9 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center while the Okada-Juntaphil Cup (Group 3) is set May 10-16 at the Manila Polo Club.
Details: Juntaphil at (0917) 5295239 or tournament referee Boy Callao at (0928) 3735260.