TO further enhance his playing skills, one of Cebu’s top junior tennis bets, Arthur Craig “Iggy” Pantino, has decided to join the De La Salle Santiago Zobel secondary tennis team in Manila.
Pantino, 14, who used to play for the University of San Carlos South Campus, moved to Manila to get closer to his coaches from the Philippine Tennis Academy (PTA). Doing so would cut the constant traveling from Cebu to Manila and vice versa for his training.
“It was Iggy’s decision to study in Manila because the school is just within Alabang Village, where he is being housed by PTA. Dili kapoy sa part ni Iggy ang training kay dool ra sa iyang school ang training venue. With this, he can balance both sports and his studies,” said Pantino’s mother Lourdes.
Lourdes added that although Pantino is in Manila, she is making sure that Pantino is on the right track by constantly monitoring his studies and training.
Pantino, currently ranked No.2 in the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) 14 boys age group, is training regularly as part of his preparation for next month’s ITF U14 teams tour to Young Stars Tournaments 2015, which is a series of junior tournaments in Europe.
Pantino is among the four junior Asian netters being put up as part of the ITF Development Programme, which is being funded by the ITF and the Grand Slam Development Fund (GSDF).
During this tour, he will be going around Europe and playing in the BNP Paribas Cup in France, Windmill Cup in Netherlands, Balle Mimisa in France, 34 International Deutsche Tennis Meisterschaft in Germany, Lappere Young Champions Cup, Hasselt, Belguim and in the World Junior Tennis in Czech Republic.