MANILA, Philippines - Alberto Lim and Marian Jade Capadocia overpowered their respective rivals to complete a rare, impressive sweep of both the boys and girls’ titles in Week One of the Phinma International Juniors Tennis Championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.
Lim overcame a stubborn Yusuke Takahashi of Japan, 6-3, 6-3, while Capadocia had a quicker, easier time against Gabriella Umoquit of the US, 6-1, 6-0, to make it a double celebration in the ranking tournament sponsored by Phinma, Technifibre (official ball), Viva (official mineral water) and Powerade (official energy drink).
Lim thus became the youngest winner of this Grade Four ITF Juniors event at 13 years old while the Filipino bets’ sweep of both divisions was the first in recent years.
“The pain, hard work and sacrifices have started to pay off, I will work harder, learn more and continue to improve myself to have a chance of winning more tournaments,” said Lim, who helped the Letran Squires win this season’s tennis title while clinching the MVP honors right in his rookie year.
After Takahashi overshot a forehand return that sealed his doom, Lim lay on the ground, raised both hands, stood up, then pointed to the stands and yelled, “Coach,” referring to his new mentor Manny Tecson of the Tennis Academy of the Philippines.
“He was the one who trained me and kept me going, so I just paid tribute to him,” said Lim on Tecson, who also handled Jeson Patrombon in the ITF juniors circuit last year.
While Lim basked in glory, the older Takahashi slammed his racket straight into the rubberized wall in frustration, perhaps angry about himself for losing to a lot younger opponent barely in his teens.
“This kid is intelligent, he can easily adjust and adopt pretty fast and I’m thankful he had proven me right of letting him play in this Under-18 meet,” said Tecson.
Capadocia, a 17-year-old pride of San Jose, Antique, didn’t waste time in disposing of Umoquit in a match that didn’t even last an hour to clinch her third crown following victories in last year’s PCA Open and another Grade Four tournament in Hong Kong also last year.
“I didn’t expect it to win this fast and easy, I’m glad I did,” said Capadocia, who will take an athletic scholarship at US NCAA Division I school Loyola Mermont next year and perhaps take up fashion design or a marketing course.
Both Lim and Capadocia, who anchored her title conquest with a stunning victory over top seed Sri Waishnavi Peddi Reddy of India early in the week earned 30 ITF singles points for their recent feats, according to tournament director Wanawit Srirasa.
Lim’s final romp likewise avenged top seed Jurence Mendoza’s 2-6, 6-4, 4-6 defeat to the Japanese No. 4 in the Final Four Saturday.
The twin wins likewise lined up Lim and Capadocia for a sweep of the circuit as they lead the cast again in Week Two which begins tomorrow, also at RMTC.