CEBU, Philippines – Cebu's homegrown talent Marc Norman Enriquez silenced Manila's Calvin Chung to join second seed Francis Casey 'Nino' Alcantara into the quarterfinal round of the inaugural Peugeot Philippine Tennis Open-Cebu leg at the Cebu Country Club yesterday.
Enriquez, a varsity of the University of the Visayas, fought in superb form leading to a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash of the hapless Chung.
Alcantara also reached the last eight in style, needing only 30 minutes to kick out Cebuano player Franklin Encarnacion, 6-0, 6-1.
Aside from Enriquez, three more Cebuanos in RJ Abarquez, Dan Eldred Cinco and Jan Godfrey Seno are still in the hunt for the coveted championship alongside Bohol's Ryan Christian Quilicot and Manila's Marcen Angelo Gonzales and Claudio Canlas.
Abarquez outlasted Venz Alforque, 6-3, 6-3, Cinco clobbered Janel Pintor, 6-2, 6-2, while Seno posted a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Zamboanga's Jose Maria Pague in one of the tournament's highly-anticipated match-ups.
Quilicot claimed a hard-earned 7-6, 6-1 victory over Juniel Espinosa, Gonzales booted out Ralph Julianne, 6-3, 6-1 and Canlas survived a tough match against Cebu's John Joshua Villa, 2-6, 6-2, 10-5.
In the distaff side, the fast-rising Cebuana netter Jana Marie Pages opened her bid with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Manila's Annika Mallari.
Kristin Renee Salimbangon, however, was not as lucky, dropping a 2-6, 3-6 decision to Kendies Thea Malinis of Manila. (FREEMAN)