Pantino, kampeon sa Phinma-PSC

GINAPI ni Cebuano Arthur Craig Pantino ang top seed na si John Bryan Orico, 5-7, 6-0, 6-3, para makopo ang boys singles title sa Phinma-PSC International Juniors 2 nitong Linggo sa Manila Polo Club indoor clay court sa Makati City.

Nasungkit naman ni second seed Punnin Kovapitukted ng Thailand ang girls singles title nang pataubin ang seventh-ranked na si Saki Oyama, 6-4, 7-5.

Doble ang kasiyahan ni Pantino na umusad sa finals nang patalsikin ang last week’s singles champion na si Japanese Shunsuke Mitsui, sa Grade 4 event sanctioned ng International Tennis Federation (ITF), ang worldgoverning body sa sport.

“I am happy to win my first ITF Juniors title here in the Philippines,” pahayag ng 16-anyos na si Pantino, No. 342 sa world ranking.

“It was really tough and intense because Bryan was playing well. But when I saw that he was getting tired, I took the chance,” aniya.

Nauna rito, nagwagi si Pantino ng magkasunod na dubles titles sa two-leg tournament na inorganisa ng hilippine Tennis Association (Philta). Kasangga si Oticom ginapi nila ang tambalan nina Japanese Kei Manaka at Taiyo Yamanaka, 6-3, 6-4, nitong Sabado.

Kasama si Beibit Zhukayev ng Kazakhstan, nagwagi rin si Pantino sa Perrlis, Malaysia.

“My ambition is to play in the grand slams as soon as possible but in order to do that, I should perform well on lower grade tournaments to raise my ranking,” sambit ni Pantino, grade 9 student ng Seibo College’s home-study program.