Reg’l tennis visits Manila Katsuragawa-Yoshikazu rules Southwoods Invt’l

THE COUNTRY’S leading players brace for a showdown with rising stars when the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age-group tennis tournament stages the Manila leg on June 6-12 at Olivarez Sports Center indoor courts in Sucat, Parañaque.

Three hundred fifty participants have confirmed participation in the biggest gathering of age-groupers in years with Al Francis Andrade, Joseph Apilado Jr., Finney Apilado and Joel Atienza heading the boys’ 18and-under cast and Gabriel Tiamson, Marcus del Rosario, Mar Raphael Teng and Tim Gum- ban leading the 16-U side of the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.

Bobby Mangunay, PPS-PEPP regional age group tennis event organizer, said they had extended the event originally set for five days to seven days to accommodate the big number of entries. For details, call Mangunay at 0915-4046464.

Angelo Aparte, Jose Martin Buenaventura, Jenard Gonzales Karl Carasus lead the boys’ 14-U category while Edgardo Angara, JT Bernardo, Joaquin de Leon and Magnus Gnilo are the players to watch in the 12-U section. AMATEUR star Yuto Katsuragawa and Hino Yoshikazu combined for 288 points at the Masters and Legends courses to capture the low gross crown in the Southwoods Invitational at Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club in Carmona, Cavite, recently.

The long-hitting Katsuragawa, who helped steer Southwoods to back-to-back PAL Interclub championships, produced a pair of underpar rounds and anchored their romp in Southwoods’ premier club tournament backed by Platinum sponsors Mitsubishi Motors Philippines, Diamond Motors Corp., Royal Caribbean/Baron Travel and Agrexplore Corp.

Claire Ong and partner Gaby Gaston bagged low net honors in the tournament supported by Mit-Air Sales, Attic Tours and San Miguel-Purefoods.

Ong, a 9-handicapper, shot 64 and 67 while Gaston carded 69 and 68 for a net 268 total from a gross 307.

Raul Magpantay turned in a 160 (80-80) and Lino Magpantay put in a 156 (80-76) as they pooled a 316 to annex the Class A plum, beating the pair of Bae Yeon-soeb and Lee Soyeong by 12 points.

Other winners were Christopher Boutain and Gerald Egasse (Division 2), Manolo Agojo and Edcel Opulencia (Division 3), and Trent Frankum and Derek Ramsey (Division 4).