JUFIL Sato and Juan Karloz Alba authored massive upsets yesterday as they thwarted second seed, Peter Tyler Po, and third seed, Paolo Wong, respectively, to advance to the quarterfinal round of the third MVPSF Visayas Regional Match Play Championship at the Cebu Country Club in Banilad.
Sato, who finished at 15th place after the 36-hole stroke play eliminations, battled Po from the start then shot in a par at the first extra hole to seize a 1-up victory and forge a quarters showdown with No. 10 Martin Mendoza.
The 19th-ranked Alba, meanwhile, shocked Wong with a 2-up victory for a battle with No. 11 Joaquin Velez, who ousted sixth seed Jovi Neri, 2&1.
Mendoza, for his part, downed seventh seed Harvey Sytiongas, 6&4, as upsets were all around in the lower half of the 32-player draw.
Top seeded Cebuano, Lloyd Jefferson Go, came out of the first round bye with guns blazing as he beat Delfin Trinos, 5&4, to arrange a clash with Mark Dy, who bested Pierre Ticzon, 2&1, while No. 4 Carl Corpus eliminated Alrey Ceniza, 7&6, to seal a quarters match-up with fifth ranked Rolando Pila, who dominated Bernard Trinos, 6&5.
On the distaff side, No. 8 Jhanna Abella turned away Wilma Fantonial, 3&2, to move on to the quarters against top seed Nicole Fleetwood, who drew a bye, while No. 7 Weifang Gao beat Ashley Llena, 3&1, to set up a showdown with second seed Angela Mangana, who also had a bye.
Other quarters pairings pit No. 3 Irina Gabasa against No. 6 Grace Quintanilla and No. 4 Junia Gabasa against fifth seed Riko Nagai.