ALBERTO Lim Jr. and Eric Olivarez Jr. led the resurgence by a struggling Philippine squad after beating their respective opponents to advance to the third round of the International Tennis Federation’s Asia 14 and Under Development Championships–Division I at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.
Lim, the eighth-seed overcame a strong first set challenge by Hong Kong’s Anthony Jackie Tang, 7-6 (5), 6-1 while the 12th seed Olivarez beat Singapore’s Devendiran Giritharan, 6-0, 7-5.
The five-day tournament is sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation and the Philippine Tennis Association.
Lim and Olivarez were playing Jurabek Karimov, who walloped Indonesia’s Haekal Ramadhan, 6-1, 6-1, and No. 11 Meng Sing Yang of Hong Kong, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Singapore’s Raahil Divyesh Doshi, respectively, as of press time.
Christian Fel Lopez and Jerome Romualdez, meanwhile, fell to No. 6 Nikshep Ballekere Ravikumar of India, 1-6, 1-6, and No. 3 Chung Yun Seong pf Korea, 1-6, 0-6, respectively.
Meredith Jones, the last local entry in the women’s side after trouncing Chinese Taipei’s Chen Yue Lin, 6-1, 6-2, in Tuesday’s second round, failed to sustain her form and dropped a 6-1, 6-2 loss to No. 5 Cao Si Qi of China.
Cao will take on unseeded Himani Mor of India, who pulled off a shock 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 14 Kamila Umarova in today’s quarterfinals of the first of two tournaments which stakes ranking points.
Top seed Li Yue Nv of China cruised to the quarters with a 6-0, 6-1 romp over No. 15 Jacinta Yuan Sze Chen of Hong Kong while No. 6 Um Seon Young of Korea advanced with a 6-1, 6-0 rout of No. 11 Valeriya Popova of Uzbekistan. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio