Lim completes ITF U-14 romp, raps Indian foe

MANILA, Philippines - Alberto Lim Jr. capped his romp in the Ajay Pathak Memorial Cup/ITF Asia 14-and-under Development Championships 2013 Division I with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Nitin Kumar Sinha of India yesterday as he swept the boys’ titles in the two-week long event at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

Lim, 13, needed just an hour to dispose of Sinha with the Letran stalwart leaning on his solid baseline game to outclass his seventh ranked rival and post another one-sided triumph that has marked his campaign the last two weeks in the event sponsored by the ITF Grand Slam Development Fund and the Philippine Tennis Academy.

Lim, who demolished the taller Charles Roberts of Thailand in the rain-delayed semis, never dropped a single set in eight matches.

“I’m happy I didn’t disappoint my coach because he encouraged me to do good here not just to gain experience,” said Lim, referring to Manny Tecson, who also handled and trained the likes of former world junior Top 10 player Jeson Patrombon.

Before Roberts and Sinha, Lim, the back-to-back NCAA junior MVP, blasted No. 5 Vashisht Cheruku of India, 6-1, 6-2, in the quarters and whipped Nguyen Dac Tien of Vietnam, 6-1, 6-1, in the second round after an opening round bye.

Unlike last week, however, Lim failed to complete a sweep of the doubles plum as he and partner Jan Godfrey Seno bowed to Sinha and Thai Vorachon Rakpuangchon, 5-7, 1-6, in the event supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Technifibre Balls, Wilkins, Mariposa Foundation, Cebuana Lhuillier, Chowking and Trans-Asia Corp. and held in honor of the former ITF and Philta official Ajay Pathak.

“It happens, you win some, you lose some. The important thing for me now is to keep on training hard and not give up,” said Lim.

The twin wins also augured well for Lim’s campaign in this week’s Mitsubishi International tournament which features some of the world’s leading and rising junior players.

No. 5 Mihika Yadav pulled the rug from top seed Himani Mor of India, the Week One winner, with a shock 6-0, 6-2 triumph to snatch the girls’ crown.