Juntaphil tennis: Gutierrez, Latorre arrange Last 16 tiff

MANILA, Philippines - Gabriel Gutierrez recovered from a first-set setback to repulse Pocholo Macalino, 2-6, 6-2, 10-2, and advance to the second round of the boys’ 18-under class in the fourth First Gen/Juntaphil Metro Age Group tennis tournament at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

The sixth-ranked Gutierrez’s win lined him up against Jeremiah Latorre in a Last 16 duel after the latter cruised with a walkover win over Edward Choy. Ahmad Armama hacked out a 6-3, 6-3 win over Jammie dela Paz while Darwin delos Reyes clobbered Clyde Ramos, 6-0, 6-2, in the lower half of the draw.

Others who advanced via walkover wins in the premier division of the event presented by First Gen Corporation and sponsored by Smart Communications were Kyle Parpan, Jed Panghulan and Antonio Punzalan while Calvin Canlas scored a 6-0, 6-0 rout over Kevin Espedido.

In boys’ 16-under category, Benedict Pintor turned back Matthew Tan, 4-6, 7-5, 10-5, to set up a second round clash with top seed Betto Orendain, who drew a bye, while David Vorbeck beat Julian Dayrit, 6-1, 6-2, for a second round match with Marc Agner, who held off Karl Natividad, 7-6(5), 6-1.

Also advancing in the event sanctioned by Philta, organized by Juntaphil and backed by Technifibre were Vernon Huibonhua, Edward Choy, Ivan Gonzales, Christian San Andres, Lance Canizares, John Nario, Joachim Samson, Pocholo Macalino, Elijah Arevalo, Marcen Gonzales, Daniel Villasenor, Eric Olivarez, Jose Mapa, Kyle Parpan, Alfonso Opulencia, Jeremiah Latorre and Miguel dela Paz.

 and second seed Hans Asistio.

In the 14-under girls side, Christine del Monte scored a 0-6 (Ret.) win over top seed Roxanne Resma for a quarterfinal showdown with Frances Santiago, who advanced with a walkover win over Kyla Orillosa.