ITF stages two Asian 14-Under tourneys

MANILA, Philippines - Local junior tennis gets a big boost as the International Tennis Federation holds the ITF Asia 14 and Under Development Championships–Division I next week – two five-day tournaments featuring the top players in the region and the country’s leading and rising stars.

The Philippines will be fielding in 10 players in the event, five in each side, with Eric Olivarez Jr. and Alberto Lim Jr. leading the boys’ class and Ericka Mae Manduriao and Ma. Dominque Ong spearheading the girls’ campaign.

The first tournament, sanctioned by the ITF Grand Slam Development Fund and backed by the Philippine Tennis Academy, Mariposa Foundation, Dunlop Fort Balls, Magnolia Purewater and Century Park Hotel, will be played March 6-10 while the next is slated March 12-16, both at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center, according to the organizing Philippine Tennis Association.

Others seeing action in the event, supported by Fresh Fruits, Fiesta Brands, Cebuana Lhuillier, Phinma and the Philippine Sports Commission, are Christian Fel Lopez, Jerome Romualdez and Jose Julian Dayrit IV and Maia Bernadette Balce, Ingrid Mariz Gonzales and Meredith Jones.

Meanwhile, the event will also conduct a one-day training camp on March 5 to allow players to adjust to the conditions and at the same time help in deciding the seedings.

For details, contact Philta tournament director Loida Mallare at (632) (5236415) or fax (632) (5252016) or email [email protected].

The Asian 14/U series is aimed at assisting in the development and promotion of tennis in the Asian region and creating the first-ever ranking system for junior players in the region.

Up for grabs are ranking points with the singles champions to get 450 points and the next two finishers to receive 300 and 225 points, respectively. The doubles winners will earn 50 ranking points.

Also fielding in their bets are Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, China and the ITF Central Asia teams composed of Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan and Turmenistan.

Malaysian and Singaporean players, on the other hand, will head the ITF Division 2 squad in the event also held to structure a program that can be built on for future of Asian tennis and generate interest among the young tennis enthusiasts throughout the region.