CEBUANO junior netter Arthur Craig Pantino ended the year with a bang after he conquered third-ranked Jake Martin, 6-1, 6-3, to seize the 6th PSC-Philta Boys Under-16 tennis crown yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Pantino, who was coming off a 5-3, 4-1 win over Justin Suarez the last time out, did not show any signs of weakness taking the life out of Jake Martin in the opening set with a 6-1 victory.
However, Martin put up a great fight to stay within striking distance but it did little to help his cause as Pantino hung tough to hack out a 6-3 triumph in the second.
It was indeed a sweet victory for Pantino, who suffered a second-round defeat against Indonesia’s Muhammad Althaf Dhaifullah, 6-2, 1-6, 4-6, in the PSC-Phinma International Junior Tennis Championships last month.