Raymundo stuns Bornia, reaches Palawan semis

MANILA, Philippines - Bacolod ace Toni Rose Raymundo pulled off a gutsy 6-4, 7-5 victory over second seed Alyssa Bornia to barge into the semifinal round of the girls’ 16-and-under division in the Palawan Pawnshop age-group tennis circuit presented by Babolat at Consolacion Tennis Courts in Cebu yesterday.

Raymundo broke Bornia once in the opening set then outlasted her rival with a gritty stand in the next to complete a straight-set win and seal a Final Four duel with No. 4 Zethley Alferez, who booted out Kristin Salimbangon, 6-1, 6-0.

Top seed Shyne Villareal of Cebu held off Anjelica Mosqueda, 6-4, 6-3, to arrange a semis clash with third seed Alexie Santos, who ousted Averille Sacapano, 6-0, 6-1, in the upper bracket of the Group 2 tournament sanctioned by Philta and put up by Palawan Pawnshop chief operating officer Bobby Castro and Technosports president Guillermo Nocom.

No. 2 Elgy Dasian scored a walkover win over Ritchll Galeos to advance to the finals of the girls’ under-18 against the winner of the Hannah Espinosa-Raymundo duel being played at presstime.

Bornia, meanwhile, survived Salimbangon, 7-6 (4), 6-4, to reach the semis of the 14-and-U class against Villareal, who repulsed Mosqueda, 7-6 (4), 6-0, while Santos and Alferez will dispute the other finals berth after beating Sacapano, 6-2, 6-1, and Mary Cobarde, 6-1, 6-0, respectively.

Earlier, Sacapano gained a semis berth in the 12-and-U category with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Franzyn Billones. She will face Salazar, who beat Shedel Gica, 6-4, 6-0, while Mae Repollo and Kiana de Asis clash in the other semis pairing after defeating Amelie Matta and Danielle Largo via walkover and 7-5, 6-3, respectively.

Cagayan de Oro’s Sebastian Mosqueda routed Alley Berdin III, 6-0, 6-0, to lead the semifinalists in the boys’ 18-and-U division of the first of two Group 2 tournaments lined up in Cebu. Joining him in the Final Four are Changmai Necesario, who also blanked Nathan Songco, 6-0, 6-0; Julian Dayrit, who turned back Allen Manlangit, 4-6, 6-4 (10-8) and Luke Flores, who survived Jed Villarin, 7-5, 3-6 (10-8).

Mosqueda also reach the semis of the 16-and-U category with another 6-0, 6-0 romp over Jabs Barcenas while Dayrit toppled Manlangit, 6-4, 6-2; Flores edged Cebu’s Arthur Pantino, 7-6(2), 4-6 (10-5); and Jan Godfrey Seno, also of Cebu, dominated Manuel Navales, 6-0, 6-0.