Patrimonio, Nguyen arrange duel for title

MANILA, Philippines - Clarice Patrimonio and Tamitha Nguyen knocked off their respective semifinal rivals in contrasting fashions yesterday to arrange an all-Filipino showdown for the Becamex Cup crown of the International Junior Championship in Binh Duong, Vietnam.

Patrimonio recovered from a first-set setback with a scrambling win in the second set then dominated Thai Sawanya Vasupongchai in the decider to pull off a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory.

Nguyen, on the other hand, came through with probably the biggest victory in this weeklong tournament, outclassing top seed Nadya Svarifah of Indonesia with an emphatic 6-2, 6-0 rout to clinch the other berth that ensured the championship for the Filipinos.

It was a sweet win for Nguyen, who lost to Svarifah twice in their faceoff last June.

It also marked the first time that Patrimonio and Nguyen, both 16, will play in the finals abroad.

Nguyen is eyeing her first ever crown although by reaching the finals, she already surpassed her previous best of two quarterfinal stints in Brunei and Malaysia early this year.

Patrimonio actually set her sights on two crowns as she teamed up with Svarifah, to dispose of wildcard bets Nguyen Tuc Kim Ngan and Huynh Phi Khanh of Vietnam, 6-3, 6-4, for a spot in the doubles finals.

They will go up against the Vietnamese pair of Nguyen Ngoc Minh and Phan Thi Thanh Binh, who trounced Efriliya Herlina of Indonesia and Riko Ohashi of Japan, 6-1, 6-2, in the other semis contest.