Eight slots in the men’s and four in women’s play are up for grabs in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Brookside Open 2017 qualifiers which starts today at the Brookside Hills Tennis Club in Cainta.
Dave Mosqueda, Emmanuel Fuelas, Neil Co and Norman Gaspar banner the big 64-player field vying for eight berths in the tournament proper which fires off on Wednesday with the cream of the countryís crop participating.
Ingrid Gonzales, Erika Manduriao, Grace Melchor and Toni Rose Raymundo, on the other hand, lead the chase for four seats in the main event of the womenís play of the annual event hosted by BHTC president Allan del Castillo.
“We thank the BHTC for its continued support with the event also serving as part of its commitment to hold Open tournaments here at Brookside Hills aside from its regular Mayor’s Cup,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.
The Brookside Open, backed by Slazenger, offers a total prize fund of P300,000 prize fund, including P200,000 from BHTC and P100,000 from PPS-PEPP.
Johnny Arcilla, who has dominated the PPS-PEPP Open events the last three years, headlines the elite field again but faces a tougher challenger from rivals PJ Tierro, Leander Lazaro, Fritz Verdad, Ronard Joven, John Altiche, Rolando Ruel Jr. and Marc Reyes, among others.
Clarice Patrimonio, meanwhile, gains the top seeding in womenís play with sister Christine at No. 2 and Miles Vitaliano and Rachelle De Guzman ranked Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, in the event backed by Asiatraders Corp., which also features the menís and womenís doubles.
For details, call PPS-PEPP Regional Age Group Tennis Event organizer and Sports Program Development director Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.
The event, backed by the new Unified tennis group, led by PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson Tobyís and B-Meg, also serves as the first of a two-week tennis festival at Brookside with the juniors and doubles set next week featuring the 10-unisex and the boysí and girlsí 12-, 14-, 16- and 18-and-under competitions and 10-U, 14-U and 18-U doubles.