Cebuana shows composure in scoring twinkill

CEBUANA tennis standout Elizabeth Abarquez kept her composure in two title games to score a twinkill in the Cebuana Lhuillier Age-Group Tennis Championships Tuesday night at the Edna Diago Lhuillier Tennis Center in Bais City.

The 14-year-old Abarquez, who is coming off a two-title romp in Ubay, Bohol, started the day strong as she avenged her doubles finals loss to Mary Aubrey Calma by pulling off a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 victory to win the girls’ 16-under  crown.

The Carcar City, Cebu native bagged her second title via another comeback, this time escaping Bais City native Angela Cabaral, 5-7, 7-5, 11-9, to rule the 18-under girls category.

Earlier in the day, the Cebuana tandem of Abarquez and Shyne Villareal absorbed a 4-8 loss to the pair of Calma and Ghylliana Yu in the 18-under girls doubles final.

Not to be outdone was Lapu-Lapu City’s Tiffany Claire Nocos and Harland Hogan.

Nocos steamrolled Maria Maxiel Rica Labrador, 6-2, 6-2, to capture the 12-under girls title while Hogan defeated Heinz Carbonilla, 7-5, 6-4, for the 12-under boys laurel.

Also putting up a strong performance was University of the Visayas (UV) ace Norman Enriquez, who joined forces with Kenneth Domingo to beat the pair of Mark Dennis Romero and Wilfredo Grospe, 8-3, in the 18-under boys doubles final.

But fellow Cebuanos Marc Nicole Suson and Francis Hidalgo were not as lucky as they suffered losses in the finals.

Suson, who turned 16 last Monday, suffered an injury early in the second set and was forced to retire against Jose Maria Pague 6-4, 4-4 (ret).

Hidalgo also bowed to Pague 6-1, 3-6, 10-7 in the 18-under boys final.