Dayrit, Nuguit snare First Gen crowns

Diego Dayrit and Samuel Nuguit shared the limelight at the close of the 8th First Gen Juntaphil Metro Age Group Tennis Championship by downing their higher seeded rivals at the Alabang Country Club in Muntinlupa over the weekend.

The eighth-ranked Dayrit stunned top seed Daniel Estanislao III in a pressure-packed tiebreaker, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(6) to snatch the boys’ 12-and-under crown in the annual tournament co-presented by the First Gen Corp. headed by Francis Giles Puno and sponsored by Smart Communications.

Earlier, the 12-year-old Dayrit, way down in 18th in the current Philta ranking, toppled No. 2 Miguel Vicencio, 6-2, 6-3, to arrange a title duel with Estanislao, who whipped Rupert Tortal, 6-1, 6-1, in their side of the semis.

The second seeded Nuguit, on the other hand, upended No. 1 Marc Jarata, 2-5, 5-3, 5-1, to pocket the 10-unisex plum in the week-long event organized by Juntaphil led by president Edward Puno with Technifibre as the official ball and Caloy Creer as tournament referee.

Unlike in the girls’ side where Shaira Rivera and Alex Eala romped off with two titles via straight-set romps, the boys’ finals went down-to-the-wire with Cenon Gonzales Jr. and Gabriel Tiamson also carving out a pair of three-setters in the 18- and 16-U sections.

The top seeded Gonzales came back strong from a tight first-set setback and essayed a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 5 Joel Atienza to rule the premier division while the fifth-ranked Tiamson likewise rallied to upend No. 3 Manuel Balce III, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, for the 16-U crown.