MANILA, Philippines - Third seed Rodolfo Barquin and unranked Valerie Jan Desoyo scored a pair of straight-set victories to dominate their respective divisions in the fourth leg of the Philta-Palawan Pawnshop Regional age-group tennis tournament held over three courts in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental yesterday.
Barquin mastered Carl Catedral twice, essaying a 6-1, 6-2 romp in the 18-and-under finals and a 6-1, 6-3 victory in the 16-U class while Desoyo stunned second seed Kiani De Asis, 6-1, 6-1, to cop the girls’ 12-U crown then overwhelmed Bliss Bayking, 6-0, 6-0, in the 14-U finals of the event presented by Palawan Pawnshop through COO Bobby Castro.
Keanu Flores and Toni Rose Raymundo, meanwhile, split the top two titles in girls play in thrilling fashions with the former pulling off a 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 victory in the 16-U finals and the latter squeezing out a 6-4, 3-6, 15-13 in the 18-U championship backed by Technosports, exclusive distributor of Babolat, headed by Guillermo Nocom.
Top seed Karl Baran turned back Adrian Dehertogh, 4-6, 6-3, 10-7, to capture the boys’ 14-U plum while Reynan Mahusay took the 12-U crown with a 6-1, 6-2 romp over Xynel Van Datorin.
Alejandro Enzo Carlo overpowered Raphael Seballos, 6-1, 6-2, to pocket the 10-unisex diadem in the event sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association and held at the Center Courts, Grandslam Courts and Manville Courts.
Meanwhile, Bacolod will host the fifth leg on Feb. 14-18 for the last leg of the first Visayan swing before action shifts into full gear on March 1-17 for the Olivarez-Philta Open age group, inter-collegiate and interclub championships at the Olivarez Sports Center in Sucat, Parañaque.