MANILA, Philippines - Siblings Bernardine and Sally Mae Siso ruled their respective side to lead the winners in the first leg of the Peugeot Philippine Tennis Open (PPTO) at the Don Gregorio Pelaez Sports Complex in Cagayan de Oro recently.
Bernardine, 22, stamped his class over the 44-year-old Danilo Sajonia, scoring a 6-3, 6-1 victory to clinch the men’s crown while Sally Mae bucked the big-serving Janelle Carmela Llavore of CDO via the same to pocket the women’s title.
The victories also netted the Sisos berths in the PPTO National Finals in Feb. 2016.
Sally Mae made it a twinkill as she partnered with Charise Java to beat Llavore and Anjelica Mosqueda, 6-1, 6-3, and capture the women’s doubles plum.
“I did not expect to win because there were so many talented players in the tournament,” said Sally Mae, adding she will prepare hard for next year’s national finals.
Sajonia, meanwhile, got back at Bernardine, and partner Bernan Lou Bering, as he teamed up with Lenario Autentico to snare the men’s doubles crown via a thrilling 10-4 tiebreak win.
”We’re very pleased with the outcome of the first leg of the PPTO. We’re looking forward to meeting more tennis talents in the upcoming tournament legs,” said Peugeot Philippines president Glen Dasig.
Aside from cash prizes from Peugeot Philippines and giveaways from tournament sponsor, Wilson, champions of the PPTO CDO leg will face the other winners of the four other regional qualifying legs in the National Finals to be held in Manila next year.
The Sisos received P20,000 each while the doubles winners took home P11,000 each.
Meanwhile, the PPTO will hold its next regional leg in Nueva Ecija from Nov. 2-8. For listup, Filipino players aged 13 and above need to head to the nearest Peugeot dealership, regional representatives or visit the official PPTO 2015 website (www.peugeottennis.ph) to download the necessary registration and waiver forms. Fee is P500.
Deadline for registration for the Nueva Ecija leg is on Oct. 27. For other PPTO information, updates and results, visit the tournament’s official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PeugeotPHTennisOpen.
Sally Mae Siso (second from left) and Bernardine Siso (third from right) display their medals as they hold the replica of their checks after winning the women’s and men’s singles crowns in the Peugeot Philippines Tennis Open Cagayan de Oro leg recently. Others in photo are (from left) PPTO tournament director Pet Santos, runners-up Anjelica Mosqueda and Janelle Llavore and doubles champion Danilo Sajonia, and Peugeot Cagayan De Oro Dealership general manager Johaima Manacap.