Pantino crushes Ishii, reaches ITF Phinma semis
ARTHUR PANTINO knocked down winners in varying forms and came away with an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 victory over Japanese Ryota Ishii to roll into the boys’ singles semifinals of the Phinma-PSC Juniors Tennis Championships Week I at the Manila Polo Club in Forbes Park yesterday.
But while the second- seeded Pantino notched his second straightset win in row and stayed in the title hunt in the Group 4 ITF (International THREE-time Tour de France green jersey winner Robbie McEwen joins Piolo Pascual and a slew of Star Magic artists as they banner the cast in the Sun Life Cycle PH, which gets going today at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
A total of 1,200 bikers and enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels are participating in the inaugural staging of the event serving as the first of the two-part SunPiology, an annual fun run fund-raiser founded by Pascual.
The event fires off at 5:30 a.m. at the 9th Ave. cor. 30th Ave. featuring seven categories, including the highly popular Bid2Bike where participants will pedal side-by-side with their chosen celebrities, including McEwen, Pascual, and triathlon campaigners Gerald Tennis Federation) 18- and- under event, compatriots Jose Antonio Tria and Michael Eala succumbed to strong foreign opposition in the quarterfinals.
Tria, who earlier beat Taiwanese Kung Chun Jui, 6-1, 6-2, dropped a 6-2, 6-4 setback to third ranked Taiyo Yamanaka, while Eala, who toppled Japanese Kei Manaka, 6-3, 6-2, in the second round, also yielded a 6-2, 6-4 loss to No. 4 Muhammad Arazza of Indonesia.
Melanie Dizon also failed to sustain Anderson, Jake Cuenca and Matteo Guidicelli.
Other sporting celebs joining the weekend of fun, wellness activity and family bonding are Gretchen Ho, Iñigo Pascual, Marco Gallo, Kisses Delavin,Ysabel Ortega,Ivan Carapiet and Alex Diaz.
Other events on tap are the Tricycle Ride (100-m distance for two- to three-year-olds), Kids’ Ride (500-m for four- to five-year-olds), Family Ride (30-minute ride for six- to 15-yearolds with adult companion), Solo Ride (30minute ride for six- to 15-year-olds), Short Distance Ride (20-km for 10 and above), and Long Distance Ride (40-km for 10 and above).
The premier 40-km race will start at BGC to Kalayaan Flyover toward Roxas Boulevard then back again to BGC,going through the course in two loops. her charge in the girls side of the event sponsored by the Philippine Investment Management Consultants (Phinma) and Technifiber and sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) as she bowed to second seed Lisa Mays of Australia, 6-2, 6-4, and missed the semis.
That leaves the Philippine Tennis Academy stalwart Pantino as the last Filipino hope with the Cebuano ace, a member of the national junior Davis
The event, held in partnership with Sunrise Events, Inc. and backed by the BGC, DOT, Powerade, Rudy Project, F2P, 2GO, Ford, Trek, Cetaphil, Sanicare, Alaska, Alcoplus, Cignal and the Philippine Star, is also staged to raise funds for the underprivileged kids under Pascual’s Hebreo Foundation.
Meanwhile, the Sun Life Resolution Run, featuring five categories – the 500-m dash for kids, 500-m walk for adults, 3K, 5K and 10K – will be held on Jan. 20, 2018 at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. Cup squad, facing Yamanaka for a berth in the finals of the first of two ITF-sanctioned tournaments supported by Technifiber ball as official ball, official hotel Jinjiang Inn, Makati and the Philippine Sports Commission.
Top seed Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan overpowered Malaysian Shamirul Shahril Adam Das, 6-0, 6-2, to set up a Final Four duel with Arazza in the upper half of the 32-player draw.
Meanwhile, Week 2 will be played Nov. 21-26 with the two-day qualifiers slated on tomorrow and Monday, also at the MPC, according to tournament director Chris Cuarto with Malaysian Razmee Rawi as the tournament referee.
Also making it in the girls semis are American Nicole Hammond, who repulsed China’s Fangran Tian, 6-1, 5-7, 62; Hong Kong’s Wing Ka Lin, who turned back Aesha Patel of the US, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3; and Elizabeth Stevens, who upended Japanese Saki Oyama, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.