Foiled the last time out, Thomas Gabuat and Ma. Judyann Padilla seek to deal with some unfinished business as they shoot for two titles each in the PPS-PEPP national age group tennis tournament, which got underway Tuesday at the Labason tennis courts in Zamboanga del Norte.
The Group 2 tournament gathers again the hundreds of youngsters chasing top honors and ranking points the past few weeks in the Mindanao swing of the nationwide circuit aimed at discovering talents in the countryside and developing them into becoming future members of the national pool or team.
Gabuat and Padilla, who ruled the top two divisions in the PPS-PEPP leg in Dipolog, yielded the boys’ 18-and-under crown to Vince Serna and the 16-U girls title to AJ Acabo in the PPS Sindangan leg of the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala age-grouper last week.
But they are out to match their Dipolog feats with Gabuat and Padilla out to live up to the hype as top seeds in both the 16- and 18-U divisions of the tournament presented by Dunlop and held under the auspices of the Unified Tennis Philippines and UTR (Universal Tennis Rating).
Meanwhile, Liloy will host the next stop on April 28-30, also in Zambo del Norte. For details and registration, contact event organizer Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.
Also out to sustain her win run at Sindangan is Marlyn Mesiona, who leads the bidders in the girls’ 14-U class while Pete Bandala, Kevin Gallinero, Sherwin Gom-os and Ferdinand Gica are tipped to dispute the boys’ 14-U diadem in the event put up by Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.
Marian Sarsaba and Kirsty Cabalida brace for a spirited duel in the girls’ 12-U side while Gom-os and Jared Sy banner the field in the boys’ division of the circuit which heads to Lanao del Norte on May 1-3 for the Maranding leg while Oroquieta City in Misamis Oriental will host the next stop on May 4-6.
