Sports
Pinoys rule Malaysia tennis tournament
FILE: PROUD PINOYS. The players with their trophies after the awarding ceremony on Saturday. (L-R) John David Velez, Rupert Ohrelle Tortal, Brent Signmond Cortes, Rainier Angelo Selmar and coach Roland Kraut.
(Contributed photo via PNA)
MANILA — Rupert Ohrelle Tortal and Brent Signmond Cortes defeated John David Velez and Rainier Angelo Selmar, 6-4, 6-0, in the all-Filipino boys’ doubles finals of the 13th Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) 14-Under Series held at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association Centre hard courts in Kuching City, Malaysia on Saturday.
The girls’ doubles title went to Filipino Alexa Joy Milliam and Filipino-Singaporean Tamryn Brown, who scored a 6-2, 6-1 victory over the third-seeded Malaysian pair of Lim Lim Zan Ning and Brittany Jing Yu Michael Tiang in their championship match.
Meanwhile, Tortal and Velez downed their respective opponents to arrange another all-Filipino showdown in the singles final.
The second-seeded Tortal, a native of Surigao City, outplayed third pick Malaysian Muhammad Zhahin Lelyas Kamarul Zaman, 6-2, 7-5, in the first semifinal match.
The Davao City-born Velez, on the other hand, stunned Malaysian Lin En Tan, 6-1, 6-2, in their Final Four duel.
Tan, the tournament top seed, and Zaman will meet in the battle for third place.
In the girls’ singles category, Milliam pulled off a 6-3, 6-3 upset win over third seed Malaysian Sze Xuan Lim, to advance in the final against second-seeded Lim Lim Zan Ning.
Lim LZN demolished fourth pick Thai Pimmada Lim, 6-0, 6-0, in the other semifinal match.
Lim SX and Lim P will face each other in the play-off for third place.
The United Tennis Philippines funded the trip of the team coached by De La Salle University’s Roland Kraut.
