Baulete leads winners in cebuana tennis

Iligan City bet Rovie Baulete came away with two singles and one double titles as she led the winners in the Oroquieta City leg of the Cebuana Lhuillier Age Group Tennis Championship Series recently.

Baulete edged Annamarie Mendoza, 7-5, 6-4, for the girls’ 18-U crown to add to her walkover win over Janmarie Anghag in the 16-U finals.

She later teamed up with Mendoza to capture the 18-U doubles plum with an 8-6 decision over Cristy Daliman and Princess Gemina in the tournament supported by Dunlop as official ball.

Dapitan City’s Jason Saavedra, meanwhile, took the boys’ 18-U title with a 6-1, 2-6, 10-5 win over 16-U champion Stephen Zion Guia from Dipolog.

Saavedra also partnered with Eurei Tagal to beat John Sonsona and Winston Fernandez, 8-5, for the 18-U doubles diadem.

Guia, on the other hand, pocketed the 16-U crown with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Sonsona.

“I am happy that despite the tension in some parts of Mindanao, we were still able to continue with our leg in Misamis Oriental with a lot of young players from different Mindanao provinces joining the tournament, it speaks well of their passion for the game,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, president/CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier, who initiated this grassroots tennis program 11 years ago to promote the sport in the provinces.

Other winners in the boys’ side were local bet Nash Agustines (12-U), Brent Cortes (14-U) and Abdel Qadri Matarul (10-unisex).