Seno makes history in Malacca

BOGO City’s Jan Godfrey “Noynoy” Seno survived a three-hour match against Japan’s Natsuda Koki, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 to capture the boys singles of the 3rd Malacca ATF Asian 14/U Series Tennis Championship at the MITC Tennis Complex, Malacca, Malaysia.

Seno, 13, is the first Filipino to capture the title.

During their match, Seno lost the first set to Koki due to unforced errors and in the second set, Koki could almost taste victory after leading, 3-1. But Seno never wavered and won the next five games to win the set and extend to a deciding set.

In the third, Seno’s second set win seemed to faze Koki as Seno easily won, 6-1.

“Dili lang siya (Seno) ang nalipay but all the Filipinos who were watching the tournament as well. Makahilak mi sa iyang kadaugan kay who would expect makaapas pa siya na he was down sa first set and Koki was leading sa second set,”said Seno’s father, Noel.

Noel added that not only did Filipinos cheer for his son but also foreign spectators and participants coming from host country Malaysia, India and others.

“When Koki was leading, everyone was silent. ako ray ga saba- saba motivating Noynoy not to give up. That he should fight to give honor to our country, and he did,” said Noel.

Seno dedicated his win to the country especially to all those from Bogo City.

Prior to the win, Seno beat Malaysia’s No. 1 Ryan Lee Yip Heng in the first round then edged Abdul Shukor Zubair, 6-1, 6-2 in the second round. He then defeated Wan Muhammad Fakhrul ,6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals and beat compatriot Michael Ealla of Manila, 6-1, 6-1, to arrange a finals showdown with Koki.

After Malacca, Seno will be joining the 3rd Penang Asian 14-Under Series Tennis Championship. The qualifying draw will be on June 9 and 10 and the main draw will be on June 11-15 at the Penang Sports Club, which has artificial grass courts.

“We are already on our way to Penang para makasuway siyag duwa sa artificial grass courts and maka adjust before mag start ang tournament on Monday,” said Noel.