Niño and Sally Mae Siso, Jacob Lagman, Vince Marc Tabotabo and Krissiane Issa Kintanar leave today for Manila to compete in the Milo Junior Tennis Championship at Dapitan tennis club in Quezon City.
The tournament, set for this weekend, serves as the final warm-up for these Cebuano junior tennis players before they compete in the Malaysian circuit.
Niño Siso, who missed the tournament last year, hopes to be competitive in the 14-under division as this will be his last event as a junior campaigner. His younger sibling, Sally Mae, is ready to defend her girls 14-under title in Malaysia. The Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC) voted Sally Mae as Cebu’s Athlete of the Year this year.
Lagman, who like Niño Siso also missed last year’s trip, will try his luck in the boy’s 12-under category.
Tabotabo hopes to redeem himself after his debacle in Korea last August when he competes in the boys 10-under division.
Among the five, Kintanar, one of the Most Outstanding Athletes in the 12th Milo Little Olympics, competes in Malaysia for the first time. She brings with her, however, a national title, when she competes in the girls 12-under division.
After the Milo event, the Siso siblings will compete in the ATP Juniors tournament at the Rizal Memorial tennis courts, before proceeding to Malaysia. — Caecent No-ot Magsumbol