Saturday, November 24, 2007 Sally wins 1st gold for RP
SALLY Mae Siso claimed the RP delegation’s first gold medal in the Selangor International age group Tennis Championships after winning in the doubles contest yesterday in Selangor.
Siso and singles event top-seed Theiviya Selvarajoo took the doubles title in the Girls 14 and under division after defeating Eliza Nur and Rose Shamiza of Malaysia, 8-2.
Siso and Selvarajoo easily trounced their opponents for the first gold medal in the four-leg competition.
Today, however, Siso and Selvarajoo will set their partnership aside and battle each other for the championship in the singles division. Siso will be facing a tough opponent in Selvarajoo, who is the top seeded player in the competition. Siso is only ranked second.
Another Cebuano sensation, Jacob Lagman overcame blunders to win over Colin Wong, 6-3, 6-1, in the Boys 12 class to move to the semifinals against second-seed
Malaysian Aizudin Izzul. The St. Benedict stalwart is seeded fourth in the tournament and got a boost from watching his tennis idol, Roger Federer, play in person.
“Jacob said that watching the tennis player that he looks up to in action was an awesome experience. They, however, had to go home past midnight and he had to wake up really early for the games. That was he committed a lot of unforced errors. We are thankful that he still won,” said Lagman’s mother, Julie.
Inspiring
Jacob was among a few Cebuanos tennis addicts who witnessed world topnotch tennis player Roger Federer play against legend Pete Sampras in Malaysia.
“It was very inspiring. I am praying the someday, I would experience being surrounded by a crowd of international press,” Jacob said in a text message to her mother.
Later yesterday, Lagman and Dusbionjit Singh won in the doubles quarterfinals over Basir Koh and Harry Matherson of Singapore, 8-0, to move to the semifinal round.
Siso's older brother Bernardine Niño, meanwhile, won three matches to move to the semifinal round of the Boys 14 and under class. He first defeated Asyraf Naim, 6-0, 6-0, before clobbering Te Yu Chuan, 6-1, 6-2, which gave him the entry to the quarterfinals, where he then trounced Muhammad Naim 6-1, 6-2 to move to the semis tomorrow.
Another Cebuano in the competition, Crissiane Kintanar, booked a ticket to the final round of the Girls 10 and under division after defeating Malaysia's Nurin Nabilan, 6-2, 6-4. Like Sally Mae, Kintanar will also be turning her back on her doubles partner Delizavernne Singh as they both fight for the title in this division.
Marian Capadocia will also be seeing action in the championship round in the Girls 12 division following her hard-earned, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Archnaah Rajan of Malaysia. She will take on the winner between Malysia and Singapore in the championship today.
Vince Mark Tabotabo, on the other hand, will also be seeing action in the semifinal round of the Boys 10 after defeating Mohamd Afq Ifran, 6-1, 6-1 to schedule a championship appearance with Tan Zy Zinyang. Tabotabo and doubles partner Bio Talha advanced in the doubles event following their 6-1, 6-0 win over Sandeep Sidhu and Sa Tvinder. (MCB)
