Aussies shatter Phinma netters dreams

MANILA, Philippines - Brian Tran and Melissa Esguerra of Australia dished out top forms to dash Stefan Suarez and Dominique Ong’s hopes for berths in the tournament proper of the Phinma International Juniors Tennis Championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

The third seeded Tran survived Suarez’s gutsy stand in the opening set then settled down to fashion out a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory in the qualifying finals and clinch one of the four berths in the ranking tournament which unfolds today.

Fil-Aussie Esguerra, also ranked No. 3, overwhelmed Ong with her power game, essaying a 6-2, 6-2 romp to advance in the event backed by Technifibre (official ball), Viva (official mineral water) and Powerade (official energy drink) and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Ong got past Adelya Karaalp of the US, 6-2, 6-1, but struggled against Esguerra in the final of the two-day elims of the first of two Phinma events sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association.

Suarez disposed of compatriot Mart Cabahug, 6-2, 6-2, but lost steam against Tran, leaving Jurence Mendoza and 13-year-old Alberto Lim in the boys’ division and Maika Tanpoco and Marian Capadocia in the girls’ side as the country’s bets for the championship.

Earlier, Nicole Amistad and Charito Capadocia bowed to top seed Flyora Shiyanova and Japan’s Lisa-Marie Rioux via the same score, 6-1, 6-1, while Jzash Canja dropped a 6-3, 6-1 setback to No. 2 Ning Hai of China.

The two-stage annual tournament, featuring the region’s leading junior players and rising stars, will have 32-player draws in both the boys and girls’ side.

The 16-year-old Mendoza, coming off a victory in the Hong Kong Juniors recently, heads the title hunt along with Wei Jen Chen, Taiwan’s No. 3, Teeradon Tortrakul of Thailand, China’s Xin Chen, Australia’s Daniel Nolan and Malaysia’s No. 2 Ahmed Deedat Abdul Razak.

The third ranked Tanpoco, on the other hand, hopes to keep the momentum of her victory in last week’s Singapore Juniors in a field that includes top seed Peddi Reddy of India and No. 2 Miki Kobayashi of Japan.

Week 2 is slated Nov. 27-Dec. 2. For details, contact Loida Mallare at 0947-4554094. The tournament supervisor is Wannawit Srirasa of Thailand.