Lim clips Thai, enters final

MANILA, Philippines - Alberto Lim Jr. took a step closer to completing a rare sweep of the ITF 14-Under crowns as he overpowered No. 6 Charles Roberts of Thailand, 6-1, 6-0, in their rain-delayed semifinal clash at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

Not even a two-hour rain delay could slow down the young Filipino ace as Lim unleashed a pair of blazing forehand winners at resumption to wrap up another one-sided match in the tournament also dubbed as the Ajay Pathak Memorial Cup in honor of the late former ITF and Philta official.

“It’s really an international requirement, to do warm-up before the match even if we’re in match point,” said Lim, referring to his pre-game routine that actually lasted longer than his actual match.

Lim, who piloted Letran to back-to-back NCAA high school titles while emerging the MVP for two straight seasons, will take on the winner of the all-Indian semis showdown between No. 3 Parikshit Somani and No. 7 Nitin Kumar Sinha in a match also halted by downpour.

Lim will be gunning for a sweep of the singles titles after topping the first leg of the event supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Technifibre Balls, Wilkins, Mariposa Foundation, Cebuana Lhuillier, Chowking and Trans-Asia Corp. He toppled Vorachon Rakpuangchon in last week’s final with the Thai bowing out as early as the second round this week following a 2-6, 4-6 loss to unranked Wu Yibing of China, who lost to Sinha in the quarters.

“I hope to win here also,” said Lim, priming up for next week’s Mitsubishi Lancer international junior tournament.

Lim will also shoot for another doubles crown as he teams up anew with Jan Godfrey Seno against the pair of Rakpuangchon and Sinha in the finals.

In girls’ play, No. 1 Himani Mor turned back unheralded Sruta Kirti Gunuganti, 7-5, 7-6(10), and No. 5 Mihika Yadav survived No. 7 Komola Umurova of Uzbekistan, 4-6, 6-0, 6-4, to arrange an all-Indian finale.