Cebu City, Philippines —Top-seeded Cebuana golfer Junia Louise Gabasa will vie for the ladies crown after made short work of Ashley Llena, 9&8, in the semifinals of the fourth MVPSF Visayas Regional Match Play Championships at the Cebu Country Club in Banilad on Thursday, April 11, 2019.
Standing opposite her will be the second seed Pamela Mariano, who blasted Marie Suelo, 8&6, in the quarters then disposed of Grace Quintanilla, 1-up, to earn a shot at the crown.
Over in the men’s side, CCC stud Harvey Sytiongsa authored a stunning reversal over top seed Jacob Rolida then nipped Masaichi Otake in an extended duel to seal a title duel with third seed Rolando Pila in the finals.
The eighth-ranked Sytiongsa pulled through in a roller-coaster clash with Rolida in morning quarterfinals, claiming victory in two of the last three holes for a 2-up victory.
The Cebuano then survived a late meltdown in an afternoon clash with Otake to snatch a victory on the 19th hole and barge into the finals.
Sytiongsa actually went 2-up against Otake with two holes to play in regulation but bogeyed them, enabling the latter to extend the match. But the former recovered and toughened up in the playoff, scoring a par while the latter ended up with a bogey as Sytiongsa sealed a final clash with his fellow club bet.
Pila, a caddie at CCC, dominated Martin Mendoza in the quarters and came away with a 3&2 win then used his familiarity with the tight layout to outfox the fancied Chan at the backside in their semis clash, coming up with clutch birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 to carve out a 2-up triumph. /bmjo