AYL Gonzaga (right) beams as she and Julius Otoc hold their trophies after clinching MVP honors in the PPS-PEPP national juniors tennis in Davao del Sur. Also shown are (from left) Digos Tennis Club officer Paul Basan and Ray Anthony Loyola, organizer and consultant for City Sports Development.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PPS
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Ayl Gonzaga bolstered her promising tennis career with an impressive double victory in the Mayor Josef Fortich Cagas National Juniors Tennis Championships, while Julius Otoc delivered a standout performance in the boys’ division at the Digos City Tennis Club in Davao del Sur over the weekend.
The top-seeded 14-year-old Gonzaga dominated her age category, dropping just two games en route to the title, capped by a commanding 6-2, 6-0 victory over Princess Placa.
The rising star from Olongapo City continued her stellar form in the 16U division, where she, as the No. 2 seed, halted Mariam Mokalam’s upset streak with a 6-0, 6-3 triumph, emerging as the lone double-title winner in the Group 2 tournament presented by Dunlop.
Mokalam had earlier stunned top seed Aika Salahuddin, 7-5, 6-4, in the semifinals but struggled against Gonzaga’s all-around prowess in the final.
Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Otoc defied expectations to claim the 14U crown. He dispatched No. 3 Carl Eduarte, 6-2, 6-2, in the quarterfinals before pulling off a thrilling come-from-behind 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 victory over top-seeded Jan Gecosala, the previous week’s Cotabato champion, in the semis.
Otoc then secured the title with a solid 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 4 Gil Niere, earning him Most Valuable Player honors alongside Gonzaga.
The tournament, which wrapped up the three-leg Mindanao swing of the national junior circuit, is part of the Palawan Pawnshop program spearheaded by president and CEO Bobby Castro.
Other winners in the ranking event, sanctioned by Philta and supported by Universal Tennis Ranking and ICON Golf & Sports, were Kidapawan’s Dhea Cua, Maria Shan Tuyor of Tagum, Stephen Fuertes from Digos, Iñigo Barrios, also from Kidapawan, Pete Niere from Bogo, and KC Rabino from Gen. Santos.
Cua won the 18U title with a 6-0, 6-0 rout of Sanschena Francisco; Tuyor clinched the girls’ 12U title, edging Althea Masinadiong, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4; Fuertes triumphed in the boys’ 18U with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Raphael Duay; Barrios took the boys’ 16U title by defeating Gecosala, 6-1, 7-6(3); Niere secured the boys’ 12U championship with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Francis Florida; and Rabino outlasted Azl Gonzaga, 3-5, 5-4(5), 10-5, to claim the 10U unisex title.
