RP bets cop silvers in jr soft tennis

MANILA, Philippines - Ericson Marquez and Carl Viray dropped a 2-3 setback to Parikshit Samant and Rishikesh Bhosle of India in the boys’ 15-under category in the Challenge stage in the first International Juniors soft tennis tournament at the Yokkaichi Dome Arena in Yokkaichi, Japan.

Down 1-5 in the tiebreak, Marquez and Viray racked up four straight points to force a tie but lost the next two points and settled for the silver medal before a big Sunday crowd.

AJ Carnay and Pauline Cacapit also lost to Misaki Hangai of Japan and Kaori Kameyama of Macau for another silver medal finish by the Filipino netters in the girls’ 15-under division.

The RP junior team finished the doubles competitions with two silver and three bronze medals in the inaugural staging of the event organized by the Asian Soft Tennis Federation and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission and soft tennis patron Antonio Tamayo of the UPHSD.

The bronze medalists were the RP pairs of Chynna Mamawal and Glaze Gonzales in the girls’ 18-under; Bien Zoleta and July Javelosa in the girls’ 21-under; and Jopy Mamawal with Davis Alano in the boys’ 21-under categories.