MANILA, Philippines - Marcus del Rosario and Marc Jarata racked up three straight victories to barge into the quarterfinal round of their respective divisions in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala presented by Technifibre at the Celebrity Sports Plaza in QC over the weekend.
The unranked Del Rosario, playing out of La Salle-Zobel, thumped Leyton Portin, 4-2, 4-0, in the first round then snatched a thrilling 4-2, 3-5, 5-4(6) victory over No. 11 Jonas Silva in the next before stunning fifth-ranked AJ Alejandre, 4-0, 4-2, to join the other seeded bets in the Last 8 of the boys’ 16-and-under class of the week-long Group 2 tournament sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association headed by president and Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez.
Top seed Cenon Gonzales Jr. held off Winston Fernandez, 5-3, 4-1, to arrange a quarters showdown with No. 8 Marraphael Teng, who repulsed Klyde Lagarde, 1-4, 4-2, 5-3; while third seed Justin Suarez clobbered Aljon Talatayod, 4-1, 4-1, to seal a duel with Del Rosario.
Harvey Gilbuena earlier shocked second seed Manuel Balce III, 5-4 (5), 4-2, then knocked off Joseph Gadon, 4-0, 4-2, for a quarters clash with Joshua Austria, who eased out Eurydice Gaspar, 5-3, 4-2. No. 6 Gabriel Tiamson downed Jules Lazaro, 4-2, 4-1, for a showdown with the winner in the Jacob Martin-Enco De Almeida duel in the other Last 16 match.
The No. 5 ranked Jarata, from Agoo, La Union, shut out Jose Cochingyan, 4-0, 4-0, and Lance Fernandez, 4-0, 4-2, to advance to the boys’ 12-U quarters which include top seed Daniel Estanislao III, No. 2 Miguel Vicencio, Luis Salvacion, Aulrich Reyes, Abraham Lawyer, Angelo Rosales and Ziggy Aben.
As top seed in the 10-unisex, Jarata waylaid Lajon Gonzaga, 4-1, 4-1, to likewise move into the Last 8 with Von Saraza, JT Bernardo, Adeline Abadia, Luis Salvacion, Magnus Gnilo, Anne Emana and Kirdron Pascua.
“Del Rosario and Jarata have been churning out big games lately and we expect more reversals as the tournament progresses,” said Palawan Pawnshop COO Bobby Castro.
Fourth seed Angelo Aparte turned back Red Ante, 4-2, 3-5, 4-1, to clinch the first quarters seat in the boys’ 14-U class.