Cebuano Chad Connor Cuizon (second from left) and Jacob Martin (second from right) hold their trophies and prize as they pose with Philta regional vice president for Panay Island Dr. Andres Bayona (left) and ULTRA president Angel Gella. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
Cebuano netter Chad Connor Cuizon survived a second-set scare and pulled off a 4-2, 5-3 shocker over top-ranked Jeff Jimenea in the 10-unisex finals of the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala (PPS-PEPP) regional tennis circuit at the Iloilo City Tennis Center last Monday.
After an easy victory in the opening set, Cuizon had to fight tooth-and-nail with Jimenea in the second, leading by just one, 4-3, at one point. The Cebuano made up for his mistakes and sealed the deal by winning the next two games en route to the title.
“The rash of upsets only underscored the level playing field and we’re proud to be providing the venue for the lesser fancied players to shine and prove their worth against the favorites,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro. “This is what the circuit is all about, discover and develop future national pool members from the grassroots level.”
In other games, Xavier School product and top-seeded Jacob Martin managed to escape the fangs of Alfrancis Andrade, 6-1, 7-6(2) to snatch the 16-U boys crown while Iloilo City’s Jan Roger Lamparero and Roxas City’s Ryle Singson and DJ Guillano smashed Khenz Justiniani 6-4, 6-1 Reyniel Marcellana 6-1, 6-2 and Miles Sotes 7-5, 7-6(4) to take home the 12-U, 18-U and 14-U boys titles, respectively.
In the distaff side, Bliss Bayking of San Carlos City bagged two titles after crushing Keana De Asis 6-2, 6-1 and Tracy Llamas 6-7(1), 6-1, 6-1 in the 14-U and 16-U finals.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
