23rd Gullas Cup gets underway

CEBU, Philippines — Some of the country's top junior netters will troop to the Queen City of the South starting today as the 23rd JRG Gullas Tennis Cup gets underway in two venues.

The girls action as well as the unisex 10-under will be at the  Alta Vista Golf and Country Club, while the boys division will be at CitiGreen Tennis Resort.

Aside from the unisex 10-under, the other categories to be contested are the boys and girls 12, 14, 16 and 18-under. There will also be a doubles competition for the 10, 14 and 18-under.

 For the first time since its inception in 1995 by Cebu Sports Hall of Famer Jose 'Dodong' R. Gullas, the Gullas Cup is now a Group 1 event under the Unified Tennis Philippines (UTP). This means that the participants can earn the maximum number of points they need for their individual rankings.

That is one of the underlying reasons why the five-day tilt that will end on June 5 has attracted a record of close to 300 entries.

Also, a bunch of young racquet-wielders from Manila including varsity athletes from De la Salle University are in town to test the mettle of the best and brightest players from the Vis-Min region.

Expected to carry the fight for Cebu are the likes of Stephany Nocos, Elizabeth Abarquez, Vince Alforque, Chad Cuizon and Aaron Tabura being the top contenders in their age-groups.

From its humble beginnings, the Gullas Cup rose to greater heights as the longest running and biggest junior tennis event outside of Metro Manila.

Highly esteemed businessman/sportsman John Owen Z. Pages, one of the forerunners of the Gullas Cup, said among their brightest products are Jacob Lagman, Fitzgerald Tabura, Sally Mae Siso, Oswaldo Dumoran, Francis Casey “Niño” Alcantara, the 2009 Australian Open junior doubles champion, and Norman Joseph Enriquez, who bagged a historic triple gold in the Philippine National Games 2018 just last week.