TOP Cebuano tennis players Josshua Kinaadman and Jana Pages met contrasting fates in the second week of the UAAP Season 79 tennis championships over the weekend at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
The 19-year-old Kinaadman continued his breakthrough performance this season as he blanked Jeric Accion 6-0, 6-0 to lead the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors to a 4-1 triumph over the defending champions National University (NU) Bulldogs.
Kinaadman, who has been performing well this year as the Season 77 Rookie of the Year (ROY), has caught the eyes and ears of the fans, most especially when he single-handedly powered the Red Warriors to a 3-2 victory via a 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 escape win over Francis Lanzado of the University of Sto. Tomas last February 22.
With the victory over the Bulldogs, the Red Warriors took a firm hold of the top spot with a 4-0 (win-loss) slate.
The Bulldogs, who saw their 44-game winning streak come to end at the hands of UST in the opening week, dropped to 1-2 in the men’s standings.
While Kinaadman has been enjoying a career year, it’s a different case for last year’s ROY awardee Pages of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles, who lost to NU’s Erika Manduriao, 6-4, 6-2.
With the loss, the Lady Eagles dropped to 0-2.