Holcim women's tennis holds qualifying today

MANILA, Philippines - The chase for berths in the Holcim/ITF Women’s Circuit Week I starts today with 32 players fighting for six slots in the main draw at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Players from 14 countries are vying for seats in the tournament proper, which gets under way tomorrow. The week-long event offers a total purse of $10,000 and stakes ITF circuit points.

It also serves as the kickoff stage of a series of international tournaments, long considered as the spawning ground of tennis talents here and abroad.

South Korea’s Kim Sun-jung, You Ju-hee and Kim Jun-eun, and Taiwanese Liu Chi-fan, Miao Yui-lynn, Chen Yen-ling and Lee Pei-chi head the aspirants in the two-day elims where the top six players will join the seeded entries in the event sanctioned by the Internationial Tennis Federation and hosted by the Philippine Tennis Association.

Other countries participating are Israel, Vietnam, Australia, Austria, Germany, United States, Italy, Japan, India and Thailand.

Turkey’s Cagia Buyukakcay, ranked No. 315 in the world, and Koreans Lee Ye-ra and Yoo Mi lead the cast in the main draw of the event, sponsored by Holcim, PLDT/Smart and Phinman and backed by Tecnifibre Balls, the official tournament balls.

Comebacking Maricris Fernandez-Gentz, who won the inaugural staging of the event in 1998, Anna Christine Patrimonio,, Anna Clarice Patrimonio and Riza Zalameda have been given wild card berths in the main draw.

The quest for top honors and ITF ranking points in women’s tennis resumes on Nov. 17-21 with the staging of the PLDT/Smart Women’s Circuit Week 2 with the qualifying sign-in set Nov. 14, also at the Philta office.

Action heats up in Week 3 when the Phinma International Juniors Tennis Championships Week I (ITF Grade 4) is held Nov. 24-29. The qualifying sign-in is set Nov. 21 with the qualifiers slated on Nov. 22-23. The main draw sign-in will be held Nov. 23 with the matches to start Nov. 24.

The Phinma International Juniors Tennis Championships Week 2 wraps up the month-long circuit on Dec. 1-5 with the qualifying sign-on set on Nov. 28 and the qualifying matches slated on Nov. 29-30.