Monday, March 17, 2008 Lagman routs foe in Prince finals
A FEW minutes after Manny Pacquiao was jubilating for finally winning a belt, junior tennis player Jacob Lagman was also celebrating for proving he is the undisputed top netter in his batch.
Lagman once more stamped his class in the Prince All-Students as he trampled on a hapless Fritz Satera with an 8-0 blanking to claim the elementary boys division title yesterday at the Alta Vista tennis courts.
The finals matches of the tennis competition were moved a few hours later as everyone wanted to watch Pacquiao’s fight. Alta Vista had always showed the fights for their members and yesterday, the tennis crew snuck in to watch the bout.
Lagman is basking in the glory of the victory as much as he can as he can no longer compete in the elementary division since he will be graduating from St. Benedict Childhood Education Centre and will be in high school this coming school year.
Lagman, who was the country’s top player in the Boys 12 division, had maintained a scorching streak and he never allows his opponents to score a single point.
He had started his campaign in the Boys 14 early this year.
Meanwhile, in the distaff side, Arafura Games medallist Kristel Mae Buenacosa took the high school title after defeating compatriot Cheska Tabotabo, 8-2, while Mylene Guinto won the title in the tertiary women’s division following her 8-3 win over Cheryl Baclay.
UV netters
Guinto, who will represent the region in the Private Schools Athletic Association (Prisaa) and Baclay are from USC and were responsible for thwarting UV netters out of contention.
Guinto defeated Nellie Jane Villarico in the semis, while Baclay defeated Sheena Pavo.
UV had been dominating the two-weekend competition with most of its players taking the most slots to the next round. Everyone, however, stumbled save for another silent slayer, John Francis Largo.
Largo saved UV from a title shutout as he once more displayed his lethal blows against Larry Antigua of the University of Cebu, 8-5, to claim the high school boys division title.
The other day, it was Bernardine Niño Siso, who suffered at the hands of Largo as he was thrashed by the latter in their semifinal showdown.
Another top bet for UV, Oswaldo Dumoran also bungled his chance when he suffered a sprained ankle during his semifinal match against Glenn Golosinda.
The injury forced Dumoran to skip the final altogether to give his ankle time to heal in time for the national Prisaa, handing the victory over to Kennex Abadia.
Although he did not have to sweat it out, it was still sweet revenge for Abadia after he lost to Dumoran in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation.
Dumoran and Abadia, together with Golosinda, will be representing the region in the national Prisaa next month. (MCB)
