CEBUANO tennis sensation Arthur Craig Pantino bowed out of singles play yesterday as he absorbed a stunning, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 loss to unranked Japanese Keisuke Saitoh, in the second round of the PSC-PHINMA International Tennis Championships 2016 at Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
The 16-year old Pantino was a heavy odds-on favorite against Saitoh who only made it into the tournament by winning one of four qualifying events early this week.
After losing the first set, Pantino evened things up by taking the second only to falter in the third.
Earlier Thursday, Pantino along with teammate Natt Kunsuwan of Thailand made it into the quarterfinal round in doubles by pulling off a straight-sets upset against the second-ranked Japanese tandem of Ryuki Matsuda and Kazuki Shimizu 6-1, 6-3.