Local ace Alexie Santos won a hat-trick of titles while Jed Justin Labasano of Pampanga racked up two victories as they shared top honors in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age-group tennis tournament at the Gov. Socrates Tennis Courts in Puerto Princesa City.
The 13-year-old Santos mastered Khyshana Hitosis twice, scoring a 6-2, 6-2 romp to claim the premier girls’ 18-Under crown and a 6-0, 6-4 victory to pocket the 16-U diadem. She capped her domination of the event, hosted by Palawan Pawnshop and sanctioned by Philta, by taking the 14-U plum with a 6-2, 6-0 rout of Averille Sacapano.
Labasano, 12, trounced Sebastian Santos, 6-1, 6-3, to clinch the boys’ U-12 title and upended top seed Raphael Reyes, 6-4, 6-3, to snatch the U-14 crown in the event sponsored by Babolat through Technosports president Guillermo Nocom.
The tennis tourney is part of a series of nationwide age-group tournaments aimed at developing the sport from the grassroots level and providing young players a competitive venue where they could hone their talent and skills.
Puerto Princesa’s No. 4 Francisco Santos demolished No. 3 Luke Flores, 6-1, 6-0, to capture the boys’ U-18 title, Vincent Alanis from Iriga City stunned top seed Jose Arguelles, 7-6(2), 6-2, to bag the U-16 crown, while Sebastian Santos took the 10-unisex plum with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Lance Hitosis.
Averille Sacapano, a 12-year-old find from Aklan, overpowered Abby Malong, 6-2, 6-2, to annex the girls’ U-12 title in the tournament that drew the leading junior players from Pampanga, Iriga, Naga, Lucena, Sultan Kudarat, Marbel, Malita, Bacolod, Iloilo, Aklan and the National Capital Region.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
