Suarez, Otico pull thru in Phinma Int’l

MANILA, Philippines - Stefan Suarez overpowered Singapore’s Enzo Chua and came away with a 6-0, 6-0 rout to join compatriot John Otico in the second round of the Phinma-PSC International Juniors Tennis Championships – Week 1 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

Suarez, son of former Davis Cupper Raymund, dominated qualifier Chua with his superb all-around game which he hopes to sustain when he faces off with Thai Phongsapak Kerdlaphee in the next round in the lower half of the 32-player boys’ draw.

Kerdlaphee booted out Chris Prulla, 6-3, 6-1, in their side of the match with the 17-year-old Suarez hoping to fuel the local bets’ bid in the Grade 4 ITF (International Tennis Federation) 18-Under category event sponsored by the Phinma Group of Companies, Philippine Sports Commission and Mariposa Foundation.

This came about as second seed Eric Olivarez Jr. struggled and absorbed a stinging 6-3, 7-5 setback to Japanese Daisuke Sumizawa and bowed out of the tournament sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association with Dunlop Fort All Court as the official ball.

Also getting the boot was Jerome Romualdez, who fell to Taiwan’s Bo Han Li, 6-1, 6-1.

But Otico proved up to the task, escaping with a 7-5 win over Cornell Spaapen in the first set before blanking his Malaysian rival, 6-0, to set a second round clash with top seed Toru Horie of Japan, who outplayed Cenon Gonzales Jr., 6-3, 6-0, late Tuesday that also saw Marcen Gonzales lose to Singapore’s D. Devendiran, 6-2, 6-4.

The six-day ranking tournament, backed by PSC for the free use of RMTC and Asiatraders Corp for the Dunlop balls, serves as the first of two legs of the annual event featuring the leading and rising junior players in the world.

Week 2 is set Nov. 26-30 with the qualifiers slated Nov. 24-25, according to tournament director Loida Mallare with Wannawit Srirasa of Thailand as the event’s ITF supervisor/referee.

Meanwhile, top seed Khim Iglupas sets out for a second win as she collides with Sharmaine Shea of Singapore, while Monica Cruz, Maria Dominique Ong and Maia Balce also try to sustain their fine start at resumption of action in the girls’ section.