Pinoy junior netter bows out of Malaysian tourney

 Playing for the first time in the men’s professional circuit, the 18-year-old student of the University of the East lost. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA — Top Filipino junior tennis player Albert Lim Jr. has bowed out of the ongoing USD15,000 Malaysia Futures tournament in Kuala Lumpur.

Playing for the first time in the men’s professional circuit, the 18-year-old student of the University of the East lost to Latvian Martins Podzus, 0-6, 6-2, 1-6, in their second-round match last Thursday at the National Tennis Centre in Jalan Duta, according to the tournament results at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Men’s Circuit website.

Lim won over Malaysian Christian Didier Chin, Indian Kunal Anand, and Guatemalan Wilfredo Gonzalez in the qualifying round to earn a slot in the 32-man main draw.

Meanwhile, the 23-year-old Podzus defeated American qualifier Tyler Lu, 6-3, 6-1, in the quarterfinal round but failed to advance to the semifinals after losing to Dutch Scott Griekspoor, 2-6, 2-6.

Griekspoor, the tournament top seed, will dispute the title against Uzbekistan’s Jurabek Karimov, who scored a 6-1, 6-3 upset win over seventh seed Japanese Ken Onishi in the other semifinal match.

Karimov and his Chinese partner, Aoran Wang, have been crowned doubles champions following a 6-4, 6-1 victory over fourth seeds Gonzalez and Italian Francesco Vilardo in the final round on Friday.

Podzus ranks No. 647 in the world. He was a losing finalist in the Thailand Futures in Nonthaburi province two weeks ago.