Tuesday, May 06, 2008 Largo makes C. Lhuillier Open main draw
THE Cebuana Lhuillier Men’s Open Tennis Championships is not for the faint of heart as only the battle-tested netters snatched slots to the main draw of the competition which officially starts today at the Baseline Recreation Center.
After the qualifying weekend, the cast for the 32-man main draw was finally completed and the list has familiar names in them as they are current or former junior standouts.
Since 20 slots have already been filled up, only eight players were needed to complete the draw and those who hogged the limelight in the qualifying round were Cebu’s junior players after netters from University of the Visayas (UV) and University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) made it to the weeklong competition.
USJ-R’s Kennex Abadia was the first player to earn an entry into the competition, where he is joined by UV’s Oswaldo Dumoran and 2008 Palarong Pambansa gold medalist John Francis Largo.
Dumoran moved to the next round after his opponent, Econg Redentor retired in the second set. Before the match was stopped, Dumoran was leading, 6-4, 1-0.
Largo, meanwhile, displayed his impressive form in trouncing Vicente Caminos, 6-2, 6-1. The 17-year-old from Naga, Cebu, recently came off a successful stint in the Palarong Pambansa, where he won two gold medals in the team competition along with teammates Larry Antigua, Bernardine Niño Siso and Israel Abarquez and in the
doubles contest.
Former juniors division standout Christian Tiongko made it to the main draw following his 6-1, 6-0 win over Dodong Paypa, while former UV stalwart Ryan Repunte, who now suits up for the University of Sto. Tomas, also moved to the main list after defeating Ivan Lui, 6-2, 6-1.
Michael Quiñones, who once was in the top 16 of the national rankings, also earned a slot to the main draw after surviving Menandro Econg, 4-6, 6-1, 10-8. Completing the list of qualifiers were Dumoran brother James, who defeated Jicjic Bohol, 6-4, 6-2 and Manila’s Jessie Lapore, who won over Roy Tabotabo, 6-4, 6-4.
These eight players will join the main draw along with the country’s top two netters, Johnny Arcilla and Patrick John Tierro.
Tiongko right away faces a gargantuan task in today’s first round as he is set to take on No. 2 player, Tierro, in today’s final match.
Another player to watch out for is Niño Alcantara, the country’s top junior player, who just recently arrived from India following his bid in the junior Davis Cup. Today, he faces Abadia in the first round.
Meanwhile, in the doubles qualifying, the first duo to make it to the main draw were twins Rey and Roy Dinopol. MCB
After winning over Vicente Caminos and Andy Flores, 8-1, the twins automatically advanced to the main draw after Largo’s partner Tabotabo failed to show up for the match. (MCB)
