Lambayan steals show

THE Cebuano junior netters faced some of the toughest opponents in the Babolat Junior Tennis Circuit, but Francis Gener Lambayan, John Godfrey Seno and Jana Pages pulled all stops to lift Cebu’s banner in the competition held over the weekend at the Cebu International Tennis Center Inc. in Consolacion.

Francis Gener Lambayan, unseeded in the tourney, was such a workhorse last weekend as he pulled off the most stunning upset in the Babolat Junior Tennis Circuit’s second leg defeating three seeded players before going on to win the Boys 12-Under division title.

He capped his winning run with an impressive 7-5, 6-4 victory over topseed Jacob Martin in the final.

Before that, Lambayan also upended No. 2 player Janus Ringia, 4-2, 2-4, 5-3 in the third round. He also defeated No.4 Clyde Casino, 0-4, 4-0, 4-2 and Diego Dayrit, 4-0, 4-1.

Seno, on the other hand, upset fourth seed Emmanuel Vacalares, Jr., 5-2, 6-3, to win the Boys 14 division, while Pages also had to overcome topseeded player Carmela Llavore, 6-1, 6-4, to win the Girls 14 title.

The event, which is given a Group 2 sanction by the Philippine Tennis Association, was participated by close to 200 junior netters. This was the second of three legs with the final stop set in Subic on Nov. 2.

The other bigger winner in the tournament was Maia Balce, who won the Girls 18 and Girls 16. She defeated Dawn Uy, 8-2, 5-7, 10-3 in the Girls 18 and defeated Maimai Bornia, 8-2, 5-7, 10-2 in the Girls 16.

Eric Olivarez lived up to his lofty billing as he topped Dave Sebastian Mosqueda (2), 8-2, 5-7, 10-8, for the Boys 18 title.