MANILA, Philippines - Elijah Arevalo teamed up with Uzbek Radjabov Sherzodbek as they stunned the top–seeded pair of Asyraff Safian and M. Salihin, 7-5, 6-2, to bag the boys’ 14-under doubles crown in the Selangor International Junior Tennis Championships in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia recently.
Arevalo, one of the top San Beda players in the NCAA, also reached the semifinals of the men’s singles, blanking Ahmad Asri, 6-0, 6-0, then rallying from a set down to repulse Zhamel Haris, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1, at the MPPJ Sports Tennis Club.
He, however, fell to Sherzodbek, 6-2, 6-4, and missed the finals of the tournament serving as part of the Red Lions’ buildup for next year’s NCAA tennis tournament, according to coach Jovy Mamawal.
Pocholo Macalino, skipper of the SBC high school, also bowed to No. 1 Colin Wong, 6-3, 6-4, in the boys’ singles 18-under bracket and dropped another tough 6-4, 6-4 loss to Vietnam’s Trinh Duc Toan and Hoang Bao Long in the doubles event with a local partner.
Andre Rodriguez also made it to the singles semis but succumbed to Trinh Lin Giang of Vietnam, 6-0, 6-2, while newcomer Ralp Juliane and Rodriguez likewise fell short of their finals bid after losing to Trinh Linh and Nguyen Dac, 6-2, 6-2.