Lim fulfills promise, rules Ajay Pathak Memorial Cup

MANILA, Philippines -- Top seed Alberto Lim, Jr. of the Philippines continued to show top form as he outclassed second pick Vorachon Rakpuangchon of Thailand with a quick, merciless 6-2, 6-2 victory on Saturday to rule the Ajay Pathak Memorial Cup ITF 14-Under Developmental Championship Division I at the Rizal Tennis Center.

The 13-year-old Lim, who made it here by waylaying fifth seed Parikshit Somani of India, 6-0, 6-1, in Friday's semifinals, needed to play flawless tennis in overwhelming a hapless Rakpuangchon, who advanced via a 6-2, 6-1 rout of No. 3 Sou Ming Chur of Hong Kong, to complete his impressive conquest.

Lim thus booked his first ever triumph in this annual tournament following a pair of quarterfinal efforts while nailing his second victory of the year since steering the Letran Squires to the 88th NCAA high school championship last month while emerging the Most Valuable Player.

"I really feel good about myself because I know I've developed and improved a lot since I won a juniors title late last year," said Lim, who was referring to his triumph in the Phinma ITF Juniors tilt in November last year, in Filipino.

So impressive and ruthless was Lim, who has been training under the tutelage of Manny Tecson, former coach of former ITF juniors top 10 player Jeson Patrombon, that in four matches he never conceded a single set.
Lim's other victories came at the expense unranked Jiang Xingsheng of China, 6-1, 6-0, in the second round, and No. 7 Charles Roberts of Thailand, 6-2, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. The teen sensation had a first round bye.

And Lim said he was just fulfilling a promise he made to Tecson before the tournament.

"I really wanted to win here because my coach (Tecson) told me we're not joining here to just get experience, but to win and I'm glad I didn't disappoint," he said.

Lim is expected to draw inspiration from this win as he hopes for another strong showing in the second week of this event supported by the Phl Sports Commission, Technifibre Balls, Wilkins, Mariposa Foundation, Cebuana Lhuillier, Chowking and Trans Asia Corp.

"We don't know if there are new participants but I'm looking at another victory in the second week," said Lim.

Aside from these couple of tournaments, Lim are scheduled to plunge into action in the 24th Mitsubishi International Juniors Tennis Championships unfurling on March 19.

In women's play, No. 7 Himani Mor of India, riding the crest of a shock 6-3, 6-2 upset of top seed Tang Yutong of China in the semis, overcame No. 6 Ren Jiaqi of China, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, to crown herself girls champion.