Prulla smothers Canlas, reaches Philta semis

MANILA, Philippines - Chris Justine Prulla put on a solid performance and cut Claudio Canlas down to size, 6-1, 6-3, to join Paolo So in the semifinals of the premier class of the fifth PSC-Philta National age-group tennis tournament at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday. The 16-year-old Prulla, currently No.

8 in the Philta 16-18 ranking, dominated Canlas in the opener then the La Concepcion College senior student hung tough in the next to frustrate Canlas, who

upended fifth seed Nicholas Cano in the opening round of the event sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission and held under the auspices of the Philippine Tennis Association.

So, another unseeded player in boys’ 18-and-under division of the tournament backed by Asiatraders, Corp. for the Dunlop Fort All Court Balls, gained from the no-show of top seed Bryan Otico to arrange a semis duel with Prulla. So earlier carved out a straight-set 6-3, 6-1 win over Aidyll Ignacio, who ousted No. 8 Jeremiah Macias in the first round.

Second seed Marcen Gonzales and Alester Magalit took the two other semis berths with the former overpowering No. 6 Vincent Alanis, 6-3, 6-0; and Magalit, who ousted third seed Andrew Cano earlier, smashing Kyle Joseph, 6-2, 6-3, in the lower half of the draw.

No. 4 Frances Santiago, meanwhile, blanked Mae Perez, 6-0; Lou Rosales thwarted Jackie Tan Ho, 6-4, 6-2; Melanie Dizon crushed Alexis Bangayan and Andrea Amistad scored a walkover win over Katrina Peñaflor as they joined top seed Dominique Ong, No. 2 Colleen Sioson and third seed Shaira Rivera, who all drew byes, in the quarterfinals round of the girls’ 18-U category.