Tuesday, May 15, 2007 Mixed emotions for Barte after conquering friend By Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan
DAVAO City netter Ralph Kevin "RK" Barte had mixed emotions after beating good friend El Santo "Jok-Jok" Santos in the just-concluded boys 18-under finals of the Toby's Philta Age-Group Championships at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila over the weekend.
Barte, the Bangladesh International Juniors champion who hails from S.I.R. Matina, bared this in text messages to Sun.Star Davao yesterday.
"Siyempre sad po ako kasi natamaan si Jok-Jok sa mata pero masaya din po ako kasi naidepensa ko po ang title na napanalunan ko last year (I really feel sad because he was hurt but at the same time I'm happy to have defended my title)," Barte said.
Santos was forced to quit the match with Barte up 1-0 after sustaining the injury.
Rizal Memorial Colleges (RMC) mainstay Santos, a BIMP Eaga Games gold medallist, recalled how the incident happened: "Sinangga ko po ang bola at tumama sa gilid nga raket ko. Nagbounce po ang bola sa kaliwang mata ko na biglang namaga kaya nag-retire nalang po ako dahil sa injury (I hit the ball with the edge of my racket. It bounced on my left eye causing it to swell so I just retired due to injury)."
After the Toby's event, Barte will take a short break from competitive tennis as he prepares for his admission at the De La Salle University.
"Wala parin po akong iskedyul na laro (I still don't have future tournament schedule)," said Barte, who will graduate in junior tennis when he turns 18 this August.
Santos, on his part, might still stay in Manila to play in other age-group tournaments there before coming back for school in June.
Meanwhile, Dabawenya netter Steffi Marie Dizon is set to see action in an Alabang tournament sometime this month. She just got herself admitted at DLSU as a varsity scholar.
