Thursday, November 22, 2007 Sallymae scores easy win, moves to semifinal round
WHEN she left Cebu, the weather was bleak but Sally Mae Siso was full of spirit when she opened her bid in the Malaysia Junior Tennis Circuit yesterday in Selangor.
The Cebuano junior netter started off strong as she booked a semifinal berth in the Girls 14-Under division in the tournament opening yesterday.
The second seeded Siso of the University of San Carlos South Campus, easily drubbed home bet Aneta Selvaraj, 6-0, 6-0, to make it to the penultimate round.
Siso, who is supported by Tavos Sport, Dunlop, Guardo, Primary Structures Corp and Commonwealth Estates Inc., will be facing either Rose Shaniza Badrulhisa or Ti Jia Min in today’s semis.
Siso has been a strong figure in the Malaysian junior tennis circuit. She won four singles titles, two doubles crowns and two silver medals last, a feat that earned her a Most Outstanding Cebuano in the field of sports award and tennis scholarship offers from a university in Singapore.
When Siso left Cebu, she was forced to leave behind a championship match in the Cebu City Olympics, which had been postponed because of heavy rains.
Dropping the match meant dropping her chances to play in the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association and ultimately, the Palarong Pambansa.
She is, however, determined to make up for it as she targets more golds in Malaysia.
Most Oustanding Athlete
Meanwhile, Cristianne Kintanar, the most outstanding athlete in the Milo Little Olympics moved to the quarterfinal round of the Girls 12-Under category after defeating Jasveen Kaur, 6-1, 6-1.
Another Filipino in the competition, Marian Capadocia, also advanced to the next round after defeating Sabrina Wan, 6-0, 6-0.
Meanwhile, the results for the boys division, were not available at press time last night. Bernardine Niño Siso, Vince Mark Tabotabo and Jacob Lagman of St. Benedict were supposed to start their respective bids yesterday.
Both Niño and Lagman are on a winning mood having recently won in their respective City Olympics championship matches.
However, Lagman will be playing only in two of the four legs, Selangor and Penang, as he needs to be home for school.
“We want to balance it because he is graduating this year,” said Jacob’s mother Julie.
Even if Lagman could not duplicate his 2005 feat, when he was the only player to have won all the titles in all the legs, he will still be rewarded as he gets a chance to watch his idol, Roger Federer, play live.
Federer will be playing Pete Sampras in an exhibition match and Jacob and his dad Jess were able to acquire third row tickets. (MCB)
