JAN Cadee Dagoon (second from left) shares the Most Valuable Player honors with Krelz Gecosala (second from right) as they dominate the Mayor Lorelie Pacquiao netfest in General Santos City. With them are GenSan City Tennis Club board member Atty. Jun Lagare (left) and GSCTC president Marlon Aquino.
Photograph courtesy of pps
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The Palawan Pawnshop nationwide junior tennis circuit shifts to Mindanao next week for a three-tournament swing that will take the country’s premier grassroots talent-search to Davao del Sur, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato, giving the region’s young players another major platform to compete, gain ranking points and valuable experience and showcase their skills.
Following the successful staging of the Palawan Junior Series last March, which featured stops across the Visayas and Luzon, the long-running circuit continues its nationwide trek with a busy Mindanao schedule designed to sustain the momentum of junior tennis while providing more youngsters from the countryside an opportunity to test themselves against the best players in their age groups.
The Mindanao swing kicks off with the MJFC “Araw ng Digos Junior Age-Group Championships” on 2 to 8 September at the Digos City courts in Davao del Sur, with another strong field expected to vie for honors in the boys’ and girls’ singles in the 12U, 14U, 16U and 18U categories.
Titles in the boys’ and girls’ 14U and 18U doubles will also be disputed in the tournament being held in honor of Digos City Mayor Josef Fortich Cagas.
The series then moves to Sultan Kudarat for the Bagong Pilipinas age-group tournament on 10 to 15 September with the Capital Indoor and Outdoor courts in Isulan serving as venue. The Mindanao swing wraps up with the Kidapawan Juniors Championship on 16 to 22 September at the Kidapawan City courts in Cotabato.
The Mindanao schedule underscores Palawan Pawnshop’s continuing commitment to bringing competitive junior tennis closer to the countryside, where a growing number of promising players are emerging but often lack opportunities to compete in high-level tournaments.
The sustained growth of the sport has also been given a boost by the worldwide rise of Alex Eala, whose breakthrough performances on the international stage have inspired a new generation of Filipino youngsters to pursue tennis and dream of competing at the highest level.
More importantly, the circuit seeks to identify and nurture the next generation of world-class Filipino players by giving youngsters, particularly those from the provinces, a pathway to develop their game and measure their progress against their peers from different parts of the country.
