Faves barge into Asian jr tennis semis

MANILA, Philippines - Top seed Oh Chan Yeong of Korea and No. 2 Wu Tung Lin of Chinese Taipei bucked opening set defeats to eke out a pair of marathon three-set victories and stay on course for a projected title clash in the International Tennis Federation’s Asia 14 and Under Development Championships–Division I at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

Oh outlasted 11th pick Meng Cing Yang of Chinese Taipei after the latter failed to endure the heat and retired in the third frame due to dehydration, 1-6, 6-3, 1-0.

Wu, on the other hand, overcame a taller, big-hitting No. 5 Jurabek Karimov of Uzbekistan and eked out a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 triumph to likewise advance to the next round of the tournament put up by the International Tennis Federation and sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association.

Earlier, Meng and Karimov booted out the last two Filipino hopefuls in Alberto Lim, Jr. and Eric Olivarez, Jr., respectively, in last Wednesday’s round-of-16 stage of the event backed by the Philippine Tennis Academy, Mariposa Foundation, Dunlop Fort Balls, Magnolia Purewater and Century Park Hotel.  

Oh will take on No. 4 Zhang Ting Hui of China, who overpowered unseeded Wang Hsiang Yi, 6-1, 6-0, while Wu clashes with No. 3 Chung Yung Seong of Korea, a 6-2, 7-5 winner over No. 7 Nawakarn Khunjan of Thailand for spots in the boys finals.

Meanwhile, Napharat Sawangkaew of Thailand, No. 3 Pranjala Yadlapalli of India, No. 8 Gozal Ainitdinova of Kazakhstan and Yan Qian Ting of China hurdled their respective foes to catch the last two spots in the girls quarters.

Sawangkaew trounced Nethmie Waduge of Sri Lanka, 6-2, 6-2; Yadlapalli edged No. 16 Manita Bootsarakomvisit of Thailand, 6-7 (10), 6-3, 7-5; Ainitdinova turned back Chen Tzu Hui of Taipei, 6-7 (11), 6-3, 6-3; and Yan stunned No. 2 Bae Dohee of Korea, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2.

In boys’ singles playoff, Aryan Goveas of Indonesia scored a walkover win over Lim; Eric Olivarez defeated Min Soeb Lim of Korea, 6-3, 7-6(2); Alex Solanki of India edged Hong Kit Wong of Hong Kong, 6-2, 7-5; and Nikshep Ravikumar of India repulsed Lok Pui Lawrence Lo of Hong Kong, 6-4, 2-6(3).

In consolation play, Erika Mae Manduriao defeated Ma. Dominique OIng, 4-2, 5-4(5); Julian Dayrit beat Christian Lopez, 4-1, 4-2; Kairil Rahim of Malaysia routed Jerome Romualdez, 4-1, 4-0; Devendiran Giritharan of Singapore downed Thai Art Faoart, 5-3, 4-0; Ulugbek Fayzullaev of Uzbekistan saw off Kazakh Adi Kaliakperov, 4-0, 4-2; Bryan Husin of Indonesia won over Raabil Doshi of Singapore, 4-0, 4-2; and Hao Koay of Malaysia drubbed Hendrawan Suanto of Indonesia, 5-3, 4-3.