Japanese oust Iglupas, Esguerra in Phinma tennis

MANILA, Philippines - The fancied Japanese pair of top seed Chihiro Muramatsu and No. 3 Shiori Fukuda showed too much class and power in booting out local ace Khim Iglupas and Fil-Aussie Melissa Esguerra as they cruised to the semifinal round of the Phinma International Juniors Tennis Championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

Muramatsu, who dropped just seven games to get into the girls’ singles quarters, broke Iglupas early and went on to demolish the Philippine Tennis Academy student, 6-2, 6-2, and tow three other Japanese to the semis of the event sponsored by the Phinma Group of Companies.

Not to be outdone, Fukuda turned in a more impressive 6-2, 6-1 rout of Esguerra to clinch the other Final Four slot in the lower half of the draw. Fukuda will next face No. 8 Ayaka Higashi, who subdued Kimika Sakata, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Iglupas saw off two Japanese rivals to get a crack at the semis while Esguerra foiled local ace Roxanne Resma and a Japanese foe to reach the Last 8 phase.

Muramatsu, on the other hand, clashes with No. 7 Saya Ito, who fought back from a set down to dominate Momoka Yoshida, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the event backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, Dunlop Fort All Court, Viva and Wilkins Mineral Water.

Top seed Wei De Lin and Yi Wei Huang toppled two Japanese rivals to reach the semis of the boys’ side of the first of two Grade 4 tournaments put up by Philta and Phinma for the leading and rising junior players in the Asia-Pacific region.

Lin tripped No. 5 Shoki Kasahara, 6-2, 6-2, while the third-ranked Huang clobbered No. 8 Yuki Takamura, 6-4, 6-0. Lin tangles with another Japanese bet Naoto Kai, who beat Yousuke Watanuki, 6-2, 6-2, while Huang faces Shohei Chikami, who upended No. 2 Shoma Kato, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Week 2 is set Nov. 26-Dec. 1 with the qualifying sign-in slated on Nov. 23 and the elims to be held on Nov. 24-25, according to Philta administrative assistant Loida Mallare.