TWO Cebuano netters shone brightly in their defense of their home turf as Hannah Espinosa and Arthur Pantino reigned in their respective classes in the Palawan Pawnshop age-group tennis circuit presented by Babolat at the Consolacion Tennis Courts yesterday.
Espinosa showed her multi-faceted game as she dominated Elgy Dasian with a 6-1, 6-0 rout to complete her run in the 18-under division.
Fast-rising Pantino, on the other hand, defeated Clyde Laquio, 6-0, 6-4, to claim the title in the 14-under division.
The out-of-town bets, though, did the most damage as both Alexie Santos and Sebastian Mosqueda put on strong performances and captured two crowns each.
Santos, one of the rising stars from Palawan, overwhelmed local bet Shyne Villareal, 6-2, 6-1, to cop the girls’ 14-under title then stopped Zethley Alferez, 6-4, 6-3, in the 16-under finals to complete her gold rush.
Mosqueda, from Cagayan de Oro, matched that two-title feat as he thwarted Cebu’s Jan Godfrey Seno, 6-4, 6-4, to win the boys’ 16-under plum before blasting NCR’s Julian Dayrit, 6-2, 6-1, in the 18-under finals of the Group 2 tournament.
Sebastian Santos, also from Palawan, stunned No. 1 Diego Dayrit, also of NCR, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) to snatch the 10-unisex diadem. Jace Christian Unto stopped Sebastian Santos, 6-1, 7-5, to pocket the 12-under title while Aklan’s Averille Sacapano bested Kiana De Asis, 6-3, 6-3, to capture the girls’ 12-under title.
Meanwhile, the two-leg Cebu swing of the annual nationwide circuit, put up by Palawan Pawnshop chief operating officer Bobby Castro and Technosports president Guillermo Nocom, resumes today with action shifting to the Mactan Island Lawn and Airbase Tennis Courts for the boys’ 14-and-U, 10-and-U unisex and girls’ 12-and-U matches. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio