Ringia, Velez dominate netfest

MANILA, Philippines - Janus Ringia and Patricia Velez lived up to the hype and swept the two premier crowns in their respective sides in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age group tennis tournament at the Isulan Capitol Tennis Club in Sultan Kudarat yesterday.

The top seeded Ringia, one of the top players from Koronadal City, held off local bet Vince EJ Tugade, 6-2 6-4, to claim the boys’ 16-U plum. Then, as third seed, she upended No. 2 Lordrenz Pacheco, 6-1, 6-1, in the semis before scoring a 1-0 (ret.) win over Tugade in the 18-U finals of the event presented by Technifibre.

As No. 4 Velez upended top seed Carlyn Guarde, 6-3, 6-4, to snare the girls’ 16-U crown then as No. 3, the Davao ace wore down top seed Mary Calma, 7-6(3), 7-6(10) in a thrilling back-and-forth 18-U final that took three hours, 15 minutes to finish. 

“Ringia and Velez are two of the many players from the region who have the materials and talent to make it big someday. And Palawan Pawnshop will continue to provide them the venue where they could further hone up their skills through our nationwide, year-long circuit,” said Palawan Pawnshop president and CEO Bobby Castro.

Tugade atoned for his twin defeats by ruling the 14-U class, repulsing Nicole Gorospe from Koronadal, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, in two hours, 45 minutes while Davao’s John Velez trounced JV Comendador, 6-1, 6-2, to pocket the boys’ 12-U diadem.

Gennifer Pagente of PTA Cagayan de Oro thwarted Danna Abad, 6-3, 7-5, to snatch the girls’ 14-U title; Ma. Angelica Novis from Malita took the 12-U plum with a 6-4, 6-3 decision over April Bentillo; while Cedric Pamplona from M’lang, Cotabato beat Sittie Manangking, 4-1, 4-0, to claim the 10-unisex crown.

All the semifinalists and the winners received gift certificates from Sultan Pax Mangudadatu, who hosted the week-long Group 2 tournament held as part of the Kalimudan Tennis Festival.

Meanwhile, the circuit goes back to Visayas for the Tacloban, Leyte leg starting Friday. Free listup is ongoing. For details, call Bobby Mangunay, PPS-PEPP organizer and sports program development director, at 0915-4046464.