Tuesday, March 04, 2008 Siso to skip Palaro for Jakarta tilt
CEBU lost a sure chance for a gold medal in the regional meet and the Palarong Pambansa as tennis stalwart Sally Mae Siso will be skipping the events for a more important stint abroad.
Siso, a high school student of the University of San Carlos South Campus, opted to grab a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train and compete in Jakarta, Indonesia next month.
“Chances like these do not come often so we made the necessary arrangements with the Department of Education and the school so that she could go to Jakarta,” Siso’s mother Sally said.
Sally added they declined at first but were encouraged by Philippine Tennis Association regional head and Sun.Star Cebu columnist John Pages to go ahead with it.
Concern
“We were concerned at first because she was supposed to compete in the Cviraa (Central Visayas Regional Athletic Assocaition) and possibly Palaro. But we can’t afford to let this pass,” Sally said.
Sally Mae was pinpointed by Philta as one of just three girls who will take part in an Asian Tennis Federation and International Tennis Federation-sanctioned competition, the Asian 14-Under Championships 2008.
Siso will leave on March 16 to train for three days at the Pusat Tenis Kemayoran in Jakarta.
The first installment of the competition will be on March 20-24 and the second on March 25-29. The 15-day event will attract other top players from other countries.
Joining Siso in Jakarta are national top-ranked player Shaneen Olivarez and third seed Macy Gonzales. Olivarez overtook Siso at the top spot after Olivarez competed in more tournaments compared to Siso.
Also taking part in the event are the top players in the Boys 14 class, Enrique Ferrer and Arjohn dela Cruz.
Last December, Sally Mae, who was just 13, swept all four singles and doubles titles in four different competitions in Malaysia which was a first for any Filipino. (MCB)
