Gibran Berliangga of Indonesia made the most of his trip to the Philippines, capturing the collegiate men’s singles title of the PTTF Intercollegiate and Interscholastic Challenge on Friday evening at the Home Court at Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Parañaque City.

The rising star from Jawa Barat defeated University of Makati’s EJ Yamson, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8, to claim the title in the tournament backed by the Huaching Foundation, Philippine Sports Commission, PLDT, Topcoms Marketing Inc., Mizuno Philippines, Cara Celine Dormtel, Gold Cross Security Agency, and Best Options Assistance Inc., along with Dino Jalandoni, Bombit Silva, and Eric Ongkauco.

Berliangga was among the more than 409 student-paddlers who took part in the biggest staging of the tournament to date, with participants coming from nearly all over the country, including the University of Mindanao.

Berliangga and Yamson earlier booked their spots in the semifinals with victories over University of Santo Tomas’ Jebb Datahan and De La Salle University’s Morrison Torres, respectively.

The Indonesian denied the Filipino upstart, Datahan, 11-4, 11-5, 11-9, while Yamson, a former DLSU Green Paddler, outlasted his former teammate Torres, 11-8, 11-13, 9-11, 13-11, 11-8.

The other completed events—the high school boys’ singles and boys’ doubles—went to the Philippines, with UST claiming the latter.

Top Filipino junior paddler Emmanuel Paculba Jr. stopped an Indonesian sweep of the men’s singles titles by taking the high school boys’ crown with a 6-11, 12-10, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7 victory over Muhammad Sayyid Sedi.

UST’s Ramon Canalin and Kieji Ridor completed their dream run with an 8-11, 11-6, 14-12, 7-11, 11-9 victory over Philippine Christian University’s top-seeded pair of NJ Marin and Kyle Ruedas in the doubles final.

Canalin and Ridor earned the right to represent the Junior Tiger Paddlers after sweeping Paul Agunod and Carl Sabandal, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9, in the semifinals.

Marin and Ruedas, meanwhile, defeated Indonesians Farel Deni Al Jabbar Nur and Muhammad Sayyid Sedi, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7, to arrange their finals showdown with the eventual champions.

Action in the team events and the playoffs for the collegiate women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and high school girls’ singles and doubles was ongoing as of this writing.