Favorites prevail in Tournament of Aces q’finals

CEBU, Philippines - The seedings were generally respected in the quarterfinal round of the Tournament of  Aces, the annual club championships of Alta Vista Golf and Country Club in Pardo, Cebu City last weekend.

Top seed Weiwei Gao defeated No. 8 qualifier Charlie Gaite in their class A battle, 3-up with 2 holes to go.

Second seed Wendell Yap topped No. 7 Richard Lim 5 and 4 while third seed Kim Kwang Seok had a walkover win against No. 6 Jun Zambo.

The last class A match saw No. 4 Aris Mata beat No. 5 Anton Pastoriza 3 and 1.

In class B it was a different story. Top seed Ari Lee was felled by the upset axe, 3 and 2, by No. 8 Nestor Mendoza.

No. 2 seed Wilky Lim bowed to No. 7 Toshiyuki Haga 2 and 1 while No. 3 Marlo Cugtas lost to No. 6 Edwin Ho Lim, 2 and 1.

Only No. 4 Nelson Rosales survived against his lower ranked opponent as he demolished No. 5 Alan Larot 9 and 8.

Lawrence Chian, No. 1 in class C, made short work of No. 8 Alex Chiongbian, 6 and 5.  No. 2 Willy Go stopped No. 7 Doli Cabahug 5 and 4, No. 3 Edgar Sasuman beat No. 6 Mark Tan, 2 and 1, and No. 5 Jephte Romeo drubbed No. 4 Nimrod Quiñones, 6 and 4.

In the seniors’ division, No. 8 Jun Zosa had a walkover win against No. 1 Ramon Sebastian.  The same happened for No. 4 Vicente Go, who also won by default over No. 5 Jun Mendoza.

No. 2 Masahisa Kawakami won, 4 and 3 against Boy Gonzalez while No. 3 Razi Razon thumped No. 7 Ellie Espinoza, 8 and 7.

In the super seniors class, No. 1 seed Pampio Abarintos and No. 2 David Villono have been seeded into the semifinals.  No. 3 Rolly Santos was 6-up after nine holes and his opponent No. 6 Romy Hipolito gave up the fight.  No. 4 ranked Tony Sikimhua beat No. 5 Ed Sanchez, 6 and 4.

In the ladies division, defending champion and No. 1 Ericka Lim beat No. 8 Gina Yap, 8 and 7.  No. 2 Choi Yi Hwa won by default against No. 7 Marile Parsons.

No. 3 Marina Kaufmann beat Emma bayer 2 and 1 while No. 5 Annika Yeo also scored a walkover win against No. 4 Joan Hortelano.

The next round of the event is scheduled on the 22nd, but there could be changes as several participants are members of the men’s and seniors’ teams of the club in the Philippine Airlines Interclub Tournament set later this month. (PR from fullpointcebu.com) (FREEMAN)