Nguyen, Villamor reign in Okada Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Fancied Tamitha Nguyen completed her back-to-back title romp in the 18-under division while Alberto Villamor reigned in the boys’ side at the close of the Okada-Juntaphil Cup at the Manila Polo Club yesterday.

Nguyen recovered from a second set meltdown with a gritty play in the decider to repulse second ranked Jasmine Tan Ho, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, and pocket the crown in the premier division of the Group 3 tournament presented by Okada Resorts and First Gen Corp. and sponsored by Smart Communications.

It was the second straight title for the top seeded 15-year-old daughter of former national team mainstay Edna Olivarez who also ruled the First Gen Metro Open last week although she needed an extra set to turn back the tough fighting Ho.

Villamor also lived up to the hype, beating Joshua Miranda, 6-1, 6-3, to capture the boys’ 18-U title in the week-long tournament organized by Juntaphil and backed by Pet One, RCBC and Sole Footbeds.

But the day also belonged to Frances Santiago, the nine-year-old wonder from Blessed Sacrament Catholic School in QC who capped her remarkable campaign by upending second seed Michael Eala, 6-4, 6-1, to bag the 10-unisex diadem.

Third seed Krizelle Sampaton whipped Nicole Paez, 6-3, 6-0, to crown herself the girls’ 14-under champion while third ranked Jeremiah Latorre outclassed second seed Romnee Kyle Joseph in the decider to pull off a 7-6, 1-6, 6-1 upset win in the boys’ 14-under finals.

No. 3 Brysl Libao held off fourth ranked Julian Dayrit, 6-4, 6-3, to cop the boys’ 12-under crown while Nicole Coopersmith took the girls diadem with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Andrea Amistad.