Three St. Benilde netters advance in LG tourney

Three mainstays of College of St. Benilde advanced to the championship round of the first LG Table Tennis age-group invitational championships with victories fashioned out in varying fashion yesterday, including two who will dispute the crown in the women’s 25-under division at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati.

Reigning WNCAA champion Diane Valdez, a computer application student at CSB, dropped the first set but fought back to scuttle TATAP’s Jeryl Moreno’s bid in the pulsating decider to complete a 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 13-11 victory in the semifinal round of the 20-under division.

The 18-year-old Valdez will face another TATAP bet, Ayra Malabayabas, in one of the championship matches set today along with the celebrity tournament featuring the likes of Danilo Barrios, Mandy Ochoa, Robin da Roza, Carlo Munoz, Eric Fructuoso, Jeffrey Tam, Leandro Munoz, Polo Ravales, Dyan Castillejo with Bearwin Meilly and Anthony Suntay as hosts.

Malabayabas won her opening set over Chrisma Capistrano but failed to completely put away the challenge of her fellow TATAP mainstay and needed to come up with explosive shots in the decider to eke out an 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 11-13, 11-9 triumph in the other semis contest.

Avegael Nolasco and Kristine Mae Vosotros, on the other hand, arranged an all-CSB finale in the women’s 25-under class with the former outlasting Loppta bet Marell Lagunday, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, and the latter advancing with walkover wins in the event put up by top electronics firm LG and held under the auspices of the Table Tennis Association of the Phils. (TATAP).

Others advancing to the championship round were Isaias Seronio and Michael Dalumpines, who beat Rogel Flores and Leonardo de Leon, respectively, to set a clash for the men’s 30-under diadem. Seronio, playing out of UP, disposed of Flores, 11-9, 12-10, 11-5; while Dalumpines, a PAF bet, survived De Leon, 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9.

In the men’s 40-under division, Philip Uy won over Joseph Abrigo of YMCA-Manila, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6, while Noel Gonzales beat Jonard Baldonado of Loppta, 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-3, to advance to the finals of this four-day tournament backed by Tibhar, Accel, Rustan’s, Café Lupe, Aqua Vida, Luxaria, NBC, Ayala Center, 103.5 K-Lite and The STAR.

Other final matches pit Adrian Rodolfo vs Jameson Austria (boys’ 10-under), Kimberly Medina vs Camille Gutierrez (girls’ 12-under), Nico Cruz vs Michael Rodolfo (boys’ 12-under), Michael Breiva vs Martin Diaz (boys’ 14-under), Aferev Chua vs Edward Cachumbo (boys’ 17-under), and Japhet Adaza vs William Ng (men’s 20-under).

In the men’s battle of the champions, Jojo Almazan, Julius Esposo, Lauro Crisostomo and Noel Gonzales gained semifinal berths by thumping their respective rivals. Almazan, playing out of Navy, downed Rowell Yatco of TATAP, 6-11, 13-11, 11-3, 11-5; Esposo, from the Hua Ching Foundation, swept Leonardo de Leon of PAF, 11-6, 18-16, 11-9; Crisostomo nipped Isaias Seronio of UP, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6; and Gonzales prevailed over Rogel Flores of PAF, 11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9.