Top juniors slug it out in PPS Valle Verde

MANILA, Philippines — The leading juniors and a slew of rising stars from the Big City and elsewhere take center stage as they clash for top honors and ranking points in the PPS-PEPP Valle Verde Country Club National Juniors Tennis Championships, which got under way yesterday in Pasig.

More than 200 entries make up the huge cast in the nine age-category Group I tournament presented by Dunlop with the boys’ 14-, 16- and 18-and-under classes luring 32-player casts each.

Tristan Licayan, Lexious Cruz, Gavin Kraut, Zachary Morales, Gabrio Serillo and Yñigo Naredo banner the 14-U field, while Kendrick Bona, Paul Gabriel, Licayan and Morales, along with Kean Enriquez and Kraut, loom as the players to watch in the 16-U division.

Vince Serna, Mateo Rivas, Ivan Manila and Thomas Bernardo brace for a spirited battle in the premier division of the event under the country’s longest talent-search put up by Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.