TOP NETTERS from around the country will once again test their mettles against each other when they clash in the 1st leg of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) – Philippine Lawn Tennis Association’s (Philta) Junior Tennis Championships starting tomorrow at the Laray tennis courts in sitio Laray, Consolacion town, northern Cebu.
The tournament, which is a Group 2 Philta-sanctioned event supported by Slazenger, will feature a total of 14 age group categories in the unisex, boys and girls divisions.
Cebu’s fast-rising junior tennis stars Jana Pages, Zethley Mae Alferez, Shyne Villareal and Francis Gener Lambayan have already signified their intentions of joining the tournament.
Bright Academy stars Pages and Alferez recently won championship titles in different age group divisions in the recent Palawan Pawnshop-OTR regional tennis in the same venue alongside compatriots Lambayan and Villareal.
Joining the cause of the Cebuanos are Cesar Kristofer Salimbangon, Harland Hogan, Kristin Renee Salimbangon and Jan Godfrey Seno, while another Palawan-OTR titlist, Marc Nicole Suson of Ozamis City, will also see action in the competition.
Among the top players from Manila who have already confirmed their participation in the event being hosted by the Local Government of Consolacion through its Mayor Teresa P. Alegado, are Manuel Balce III, Jose Thomas Bernardo, and Ma. Dominique Ong.
Hong Kong’s Noelle Vanasse Wilbert will also join the fray alongside the top players from Mindanao, who were expected to submit their entries before yesterday’s 12-noon deadline.
The crowns up for grabs in the different categories are the singles division’s 10-Under Unisex, 12-Under Boys and Girls, 14-Under Boys and Girls, 16-Under Boys and Girls and the 18-Under Boys and Girls.
Also at stake are championships in the 10-Under Unisex,14-Under Boys and Girls and 18-Under Boys and Girls in the doubles category.
Philta-Visayas regional vice presidents Ken Salimbangon of Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City, Dr. Andres Bayona of Iloilo City, Fernando Arguelles of Bacolod City and tournament director and organizer Juanito Cansino Jr. of Mindanao were one in saying that the tournament’s main goal is to revitalize the primary objective of Philta of creating and fostering popular widespread interest of tennis in the country. They do this by holding regional level tournaments to keep local players abreast of the latest trends and developments in the sport.
They also said that the series of competitions is also aimed at enhancing cordial relationships between regional competitors. /Correspondent JADE S. VIOLETA