Madis, Velez eye PPS Mlang ‘double’

Jazzelle Madis and John David Velez hope to live up to the hype as they banner the field in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Mlang regional age group tennis tournament which gets going today at the Mlang Tennis Club in Cotabato.

Madis gains the top seeding in the girls’ 16- and 18-and-under divisions with the local ace facing the likes of Minette Bentillo, Arnie Diaz and Jeanne Gornes in both categories of the Group 2 tournament presented by Slazenger.

Velez, on the other hand, looms as the player to beat in two sections of the boys’ side with the Davao find bracing for a duel with Cedric Pamplona, Joaquin Palo and Andrei Padao among others in the big 32-player 14-U field.

But Velez, a multi-winner in the country’s biggest age-grouper put up by Palawan Pawnshop, headed by president/CEO Bobby Castro, braces for a tough outing in the 16-U division which drew the likes of Bruce Hurtado, Reyman Saldivar, Christian Villarin, Herald Aton, Pamplona and Palo.

Hurtado and Villarin, meanwhile, headline the premier 18-U category of the event backed by the Unified Tennis Group, composed of Cebuana Lhuillier, PPS-PEPP, Wilson, Toby’s, BMeg, Citigreen, Babolat and Tru-Flex.

The other fancied players are Saldivar, Pamplona, Andrei Padao and Charles Jumawan in the boys’ 12-U side and Bentillo, Jillian Manangking, Sheboh Ripdos and Jasmen Kadalum in the girls’ 14-U section. Tennielle Madis, Jose Cabanting, Raicy Bentillo and Shaun Globasa head the 10-unisex field.

Meanwhile, the country’s longrunning circuit will hold its next stop in Pikit, Cotabato leg on Sept. 21-25.

For details, call up PPS-PEPP sports program development director Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.