CEBUANOS SALLY Dine and Sally Mae Siso made switching from lawn tennis to soft tennis easy after they ruled the women’s juniors division by beating members of the Philippine soft tennis team, 4-0, in the recently held Philippine National Games in Bacolod, Negros Occidental.
Sally Mae said she and her elder sister didn’t want to play the sport but were encouraged by Michael Enriquez, coach of the Philippine soft tennis team.
Soft tennis is based on the regular lawn tennis. It uses a lighter and more flexible racket, soft balls and different techniques.
According to Sally Mae, Enriquez wanted them to play so his wards would have new opponents other than themselves.
Sally Mae said they did not expect to win, especially that they had gone up against members of the Philippine junior team Edirlyn Peralta and Pauline Cacapit in the finals. Peralta is the no.1 junior player in RP soft tennis.
Sally Mae said it was not easy but that they learned quickly because of some of its similarities with lawn tennis. She added that they had felt clumsy the first time and looked very comical in handling the racket and the ball. However, they analyzed and studied the techniques when they played in the qualifying rounds.
“The backhand with soft tennis is very different and you have to double your power to compensate for the softness of the ball,” Sally Mae said.
In the semifinals, the Siso siblings dismissed Philippine junior team members Pia Tamayo and Josephine Arevalo, 4-2, and Manila’s Janine Mallari and Glaze Gonzales, 4-1, in the quarterfinals.
One half of the pair that won the men’s juniors doubles was also a Cebuano—Kennex Abadia. He paired up with Philippine junior team member Davis Alano to blank the tandem of Angelo Gutilo and Erwin Espanyola, 4-0, for the title.
In the semifinals, the duo dismissed the pair of John Ryan Dominguez and Duarlei Rodriguez, 4-0, and the tandem of Brian Macabata and Arjay Canoza, 4-1, in the quarterfinals. /CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON