MANILA, Philippines - Local bet Andre Cuevas came away with an 8-2 romp over Brent Cortes to nail the boys’ 16-and-under crown then teamed up with John Sonsona to capture the 18-U doubles title in the seventh leg of the Cebuana Lhuillier age group tennis championship series at the Liwanag Tennis Courts in Maranding Lala in Lanao del Norte.
Sydney Ezra Enriquez from Zamboanga del Norte, Nash Agustines from Oroquieta City and unranked Abel Matarul, also from Zamboanga del Norte, also scored two victories each in the tournament supported by Dunlop as the official ball.
Cuevas and Sonsona edged Jose Pague and Andrew Oserada, 8-6, for the 18-U doubles title.
Enriquez crushed Kristin Bandolis, 8-0, to pocket the girls’ 14-U plum then posted an 8-3 romp over Lanao del Norte’s Voenn Pamaong for the 16-U diadem; Agustines took the boys’ 12-U crown with an 8-2 rout of Heinz Carbonilla and partnered with Eurie Tagal to beat Aaron Geronimo and Mark Tanquion, 8-4, for the 14-U doubles diadem.
Matarul, on the other hand, swept AJ Bering, 4-2, 4-1, to claim the 10-unisex title and teamed up with Jhemz Enopia to hammer out an 8-4 victory over Bering and Kristin Bandolis in their doubles clash.
“We hold a lot of legs in Mindanao as the region has proven to be a very good source of young talents in the past who have gone all the way to being national champions and represented the country in international competitions,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, president/CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier.
Other winners were Kristin Bandolis (girls’ 12-U); Brent Cortes (boys’ 14-U) and Pamaong (girls’ 18-U).