MORE THAN 300 participants are expected to start seeing action today in the 23rd JRG Gullas Tennis Cup, which will be held in two venues, after organizers extended the deadline of registration until 5 p.m. yesterday.
Tournament director Fritz Tabura set the deadline at 12 noon yesterday. However, he said that organizer John Pages decided to extend it after receiving so many calls from those wanting to compete in the Gullas netfest. As of 2 p.m. yesterday, entries have already swelled to 267.
The number ballooned after the Philippine Sports Commission decided to reschedule the Visayas Open to June 7 and 8 to make way for the longest running tennis tournament in Cebu, which is a Group 1-sanctioned event by the Unified Tennis Philippines.
The tournament will be held at the Citigreen Tennis Resort in barangay Punta Princesa and the Alta Vista Golf and Country Club courts in barangay Pardo.
Leading the charge for Cebuanos is Elizabeth Abarquez, who clinched three titles in last year’s edition of this tournament, including the 18-Under Girls title. She will be joined in the frontline by also multi-titled netters in Zethley Mae Alferez, Elizabeth Abarquez, Venz Alforque and Vinz Lominoque, among others.
Upcoming tennis stars will also be testing their wares against top netters from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao led by cousins Clarence Andrei Tabura, Gio John Manito and Aaron kevin Tabura, who is the top seed in the 10 will try to stop top seed in the 10 Under Unisex.
Aside from the 10 Under Unisex, other categories are 12, 14, 16 and 18 Under. Except for the 10 Under Unisex, the rest of the categories will have a boys and girls division.
The boys division will be played at the Citigreen Tennis Resort in barangay Punta Princesa while the girls division will be contested at the Alta Vista Golf and Country Club in barangay Pardo.
The tournament will also have a doubles competition.