Bogo City—Janjie Soquino was the perfect picture of poise under pressure yesterday as he snatched the title in the 3rd Mayor Celestino Martinez Men’s Open tennis tournament here.
The 29-year-old Soquino, a former hotshot in Cebu City’s age group tournaments, survived a furious onslaught by Bogo’s upcoming tennis ace Jan Godfrey Seno to come away with a 8-7 (11-9) victory in the championship match.
Soquino squandered a 6-2 lead in the regular set but recovered just in time to send the match into a tiebreaker after allowing the 15-year-old Seno to emerge from a deep 2-6 hole and take a 7-6 advantage.
With the game on the line, Soquino, who made four straight unforced errors to give Seno a 7-6 edge, dug deep into his vast playing experience and rallied from love-15 to 40-15. Seno managed to make it 40-30 but Soquino was able to seal the point and send the match into a tiebreaker.
Seno drew first blood in the tiebreaker by scoring the first point but Soquino overtook him by registering three straight points for a 3-1 edge.
Seno’s chance of bagging the title came after he was able to score four straight points for a 6-4 lead but Soquino withstood the pressure while Seno committed several unforced errors down the stretch to allow Soquino to march to victory.
It was a heartbreaking loss for Seno, who also lost to Soquino in the Pardo Men’s open semis.
In the loser’s bracket, University of the East stalwart Joshua Kinaadman, who helped his team finish third in the 2014 UAAP men’s tennis tournament, salvaged some measure of pride as he defeated the San Sebastian College-Recoletos Stags mainstay Francis Adrian Parangan, 8-5.