Arcilla, 2 Cebu bets march into Final 4 of Peugeot net

CEBU, Philippines – The top-seeded Johnny Arcilla eased through the semifinal round together with hometown bets Israel Abarquez and Hannah Grace Espinosa in the Cebu leg of the inaugural Peugeot Philippine Tennis Open at the Cebu Country Club yesterday.

Arcilla, whose father is a Cebuano, had a walk in the park against Marc Nicole Suson and Calvin Canlas with the same scores of 6-1, 6-1 to inch  closer to a dream final showdown with the second-ranked Francis Casey "Nino" Alcantara, who stormed into the Final Four after terminating the multi-titled Cebuano netter Jan Godfrey 'Noy' Seno, 6-1, 6-4.

The University of San Carlos-BED mainstay Seno reached the quarterfinal round after trouncing Ateneo de Manila University's Luke Alquin Flores, 6-1, 6-1, but could not hold his ground aginst Alcantara, one of the country's best and brightest players today.

Alcantara will face next Cebu's hometown pride Israel "RJ" Abarquez, who kept his title hopes alive after clobbering Claudio Canlas of Manila, 6-0, 6-2. It will be the first ever meeting of two talented players from the opposite side of the archipelago.

Arcilla, on the other hand, will go up against Ateneo's Marcen Angelo Gonzales for a berth into the final round. Gonzales stayed alive after booting out another Cebuano bet in Marc Norman Enriquez, 6-4, 6-4.

In the women's division, Espinosa followed up his 6-1, 6-0 shellacking of Manila's Jana Hernandez, 6-1, 6-0, with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Bohol's Floreza Alesna, 6-1, 6-1. She will take on either Macy Gonzales or Kendies Thea Malinis in the last four.

Malinis was the one who dashed the title hopes of promising Cebuana Jana Marie Pages, 0-6, 4-6 in the quarterfinal stage.

Maricel Mirabueno of Iligan City also made her presence felt in the week-long tilt.

After stunning seeded no.2 Maria Dominique Ong in the second round, 7-6(5), 6-3, Mirabueno sustained her momentum on the way to a hard-earned 6-4, 1-6, 10-8 victory over Zethley Mae Alferez.

In the penultimate round, Mirabuena will test the mettle of either Cebuana Elizabeth Abarquez or Erika Manduriao. Abarquez barged into the quarterfinals after outsmarting Shyne Villareal, 7-5, 6-2 while Manduriao had an easy 6-3,6-2 win against Juvilyn Barquin. (FREEMAN)