PH netters gear up for Phinma PSC Juniors Championships

THE COUNTRY'S promising junior players are all set to compete in the two-leg Phinma-PSC Juniors Tennis Championships in Makati City.

The first leg will be held on Nov. 14-19 and the second leg on Nov. 21-26 at the Manila Polo Club indoor clay courts.

Cebuano Arthur Craig Pantino, Manuel Balce III, Michael Francis Eala, and Matthew Garcia will spearhead the Philippine campaign in the boys’ division of the Grade 4 tournament sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Indian Megh Bhargav Patel, who is No. 171 in the world juniors rankings, leads the 32-man main draw which also has Japanese players Shunsuke Mitsui (No. 276) and Taiyo Yamanaka (No. 674), Indonesian Odeda Muhammad Arazza (607), Chinese Zeng Sida (No. 610), and Malaysians Shamirul Shahril Mohd Adam Das (No. 663), Darrshan Suresh (No. 758), and Jian Keong Takeshi Koey (No. 776).

Pantino is ranked No. 385, Eala is No. 657 while Balce is No. 939.

Meanwhile, Rafaella Jean Villanueva, Melanie Faye Dizon, and Bea Francesca Acena will see action in the girls’ division.

Australian Lisa Mays is the highest world-ranked player in the tournament at No. 223 in the ITF Juniors. Also competing are Taiwanese players Chang Ting-Pei (No. 323) and Lai Pei-Yu (No. 744), Chinese Li Xuanjin (No. 387), Hong Kong's Lin Wing Ka (No. 549), Japanese Yuna Ohashi (No. 660), Koreans Sim Chae-hyun (No. 688) and Kwon Jimin (No. 713), and Indian Annika Kannan (No. 753).

The two-week competition organized by the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) will award ITF Juniors points to the winners in the singles and doubles categories. PNA