ROLANDO Bregente matched par 72 on a rainy Wednesday to earn top seeding in men's play of the NGAP's Match Play Championship, even as the double championship bid of young Lisa Sarines will have to go through her twin sister Mona in the first round of the knockout matches at soggy Luisita in Tarlac.
Jet Hernandez, the player who has a shot at the men's double, advanced as the No. 3 seed by shooting a 74 for 142, as Filipino-Japanese Shinichi Suzuki took No. 2 after a second round 70 to finish two shots behind the 24-year-old Bregente, who closed out the two-round qualifying with a 139.
READ Quintanilla running third in National Match Play qualifying
"I think half the challenge this week was making it to the match play stage," Hernandez, who won the Strokeplay title by 22 strokes over Bregente and Chris Remata last week, said as he battles teener Alexis Nailga, a multiple leg winner in the Junior PGT, who advanced as the 14th seed after rounds of 78 and 75.
"I actually don't care what ranking I got."
Bregente, a member of the national pool like Hernandez, will be up against Ronel Taga-An, who fired an 80 to advance as the No. 16 seed, even as the 6-foot-3 Suzuki slugs it out with Geoffrey Tan, in the round-of-16 in the morning.
The quarterfinals will also be played in the afternoon, even as one interesting match would be the Ralph Batican-Jacob Casuga match, with the 14-year-old Batican, a ward of the legendary Frankie Minoza, qualifying as the sixth seed after a 74.
Mhark Fernando III, son of former champion Mhark Sr., earned a clash with another teen, Bobe Salahog, the eighth-ranked player in the field after rounds of 73 and 74.
Meanwhile, Lisa Sarines, who had openly said that she would prefer winning this tournament than the Stroke Play she dominated last week, and Mona will be an intriguing first-round match-up.
"I'm sure she's rooting for both of us to win, but that just can't happen," Lisa said, referring to their mother, Dang, who has been to all of their tournaments. "It will be a very tough match (with Mona), because she is also playing well."
Reigning Singapore Am Open champion Grace Quintanilla fired a 70 for 142 and easily claimed top ranking, advancing to face No. 8 ranked Brittany Tamayo, with Ally Gaccion, a PH team mainstay, shooting a 73 to be the second-ranked player in the ladies' field.
Gaccion goes head-to-head with 15-year-old Precious Zaragosa, who seems to have found relief to her struggles at the Stroke Play event last week after firing rounds of 76 and 73 here to be the No. 7 seed.
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