Villanueva, Gonzales top Palawan ELO Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Rafaella Villanueva smashed her way to two victories while Cenon Gonzales nailed one win and turned in a runner-up finish in Series 58 Palawan Pawnshop President’s ELO Cup Regional Age Group tennis circuit presented by Technifibre at the Olivarez Sports Center in Parañaque Thursday.

The second-seeded Villanueva, who hacked out tough victories in the quarters and semis, overpowered Bea Acena in the finals, coming through wit a 6-1, 6-0 romp to clinch the girls’ 16-and-under crown.

As the top-ranked player in the 14-and-U section, Villanueva lived up to the hype and blanked Blanche Lagrisola, 6-0, 6-0, to complete a golden double in the week-long tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop through COO Bobby Castro and sanctioned by Philta under president and Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez.

Gonzales, coming off scary wins over Jeremiah Macias III, 7-5, 7-5, in the quarters and Vincent Alanis, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in the semis, repulsed Jacob Martin, 7-5, 6-1, to pocket the boys’ 16-and-U diadem. He, however, fell short of his bid to match Villanueva’s two-title romp, bowing to top seed Marcen Gonzales, 4-6, 1-6, in the 18--U finals.

“By providing our junior players top-level, ranking tournaments like this, we expand the base of our talents, who could be trained and developed to become members of our national pool,” said Olivarez, who also credited Palawan Pawnshop’s continuing support to the sport.

Bettina Bautista took the girls’ 18-U title with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Keannu Flores, while top seed Miles Vitaliano bounced back from a second set setback to foil Alexandra Eala, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2, and cop the girls’ 12-U crown.

Marcus del Rosario and Nio Tria, two of the country’s junior stars, topped the boys’ 14- and 12-U classes, respectively, with the former thwarting Gabriel Tiamson, 6-4, 6-3, and the latter frustrating Angelo Aparte, 6-3, 6-4.

No. 7 Samuel Nuguit capped his surprise run in the 10-unisex category, upending top seed Rafael Liangco, 4-2, 4-1, to join the roster of winners in the country’s premier, longest-running age-group circuit.

“Palawan Pawnshop’s partnership with Technifibre has been a big boost to Phl tennis and we will continue providing our youth ranking tournaments like this to inspire them to achieve a higher level of play,” said Castro.