PANABO City, Davao del Norte -- Fifth seed John Bryan Otico exacted revenge by stunning last year's semifinals tormentor and defending champion Patrick John Tierro of Subic, 6-4, 6-4, in the semifinals Friday, June 15, of the 2nd Mayor James Gamao Invitational Open Tennis Championship at the Panabo City twin tennis court here.
The 18-year-old Otico, who hails from Maramag, Bukidnon, will face either third seed Johnny Arcilla or fourth seed Vincent Elberto Anasta who were still playing in the other semifinals match as of this writing.
Otico, who lost to Tierro in the semifinals last year, also upset top seed Francis Casey Alcantara, 6-4, retire in the quarterfinals of the tournament organized by For the Love of Tennis (FLOT) Group.
"Serve man jud ang advantage ni PJ (Tierro) so if ma break namo to mas dako amoang advantage kay kung rally man gud lamang ko kay bata pa ko (If I could just break his serve, which I did, I had the advantage in the rally since I am younger)," the Grade 12 De La Salle Santiago Zobel student said.
On facing either the veteran Arcilla or the dangerous Anasta as he described, Otico said: "Kuya Johnny is a always a good player and Anasta could beat everyone so wala ko kabalo kung unsa mahitabo sa finals (I don't know what will happen to the finals)."
Otico said he is grateful to have been invited in the competition along with the 15 other seeded players of the country.
"Privileged kaayo ko kay na invite ko diri kay naa na man gud diri ang top 16 so gwapo siya nga avenue (This is indeed a privilege to be play here with the country's top 16 players)" Otico, who will compete in Malaysia next month.