Nguyen, Eugenio seal Okada Cup semis duel

MANILA, Philippines - Tamitha Nguyen stepped up her drive for a second straight championship as she crushed Anne Castillo, 6-1, 6-2, to roll into the semifinal round of the girls’ 18-under division of the Okada-Juntaphil Cup at the Manila Polo Club yesterday.

Nguyen, who topped the centerpiece event of the First Gen Championship last week, hardly worked out a sweat in disposing of Castillo to arrange a semis clash with Nicole Eugenio.

The unranked Eugenio, who shocked third seed Liz Magaway in the first round, 2-6, 6-4 (10-4), struggled past Treena Gutierrez, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2, for a duel with the top seeded Nguyen in the Group 3 tournament presented by Okada Resorts and First Gen Corp. and sponsored by Smart Communications.

No. 2 Jasmine Ho blasted Jamielyn Tafalla, 6-0, 6-2, to set up a semis showdown with fourth seed Maika Tanpoco in the lower half of the draw. Tanpoco overwhelmed Aziel Manantan, 6-0, 6-0.

Top seed Alberto Villamor also breezed through the semis in the boys’ 18-under side of the tournament organized by Juntaphil and backed by Pet One, RCBC, Sole Footbeds, whipping No. 8 Kim Senga, 6-1, 6-0, for a semis clash with No. 4 Romeo Dimakiling, who downed Joakim Samson, 6-2, 6-3.

The other semis pairing pits Joshua Miranda, who defeated Neil Paez, 6-2, 6-0, and Mark Verdadero, who stunned third seed Juan Carlo Cano in a thrilling duel, 7-6, 7-5.

Top ranked Mimo Tomacruz toppled Niel Puche, 6-1, 6-2, to lead the quarterfinalists in the boys’ 12-under class. Others who advanced were Angelo Saraza, No. 3 Brysl Libao, Joseph Saraza, Jacob Martin, Julian Dayrit, Manuel Balce III and second seed Joel Atienza.

Angelo Saraza defeated Tomas Puno, 6-2, 6-1; Libao thumped Albather Rosales, 6-1, 6-1; Martin held off Jerome Romualdez, 7-5, 6-1; Dayrit subdued Jose Mapa, 6-1, 6-2; Balce thwarted Cenon Gonzales, 4-6, 6-4 (10-8); Atienza stopped Elijah Arevalo, 6-3, 3-6 (10-4) and Joseph Saraza scored a walkover win over Marraphael Teng.