ARCHRIVALS Brent Signmond Cortes of Lanao Norte and Rupert Ohrelle Tortal of Surigao City seemed excited to renew their storied rivalry in Mindanao Series of the 2017 Cebuana Lhuillier age-group tennis tournament which opened in Cagayan de Oro City on Saturday at the Nazareth Lawn tennis courts.
With the top guns in other age categories yet to flex muscles in a cloudy Saturday morning, the tourney’s prominent figures since their unisex under-10 days immediately sent strong message on what possibly lie ahead in the star-studded under-14 boys bracket.
Cortes made short work of Patrick Jhon Paumar, 6-1, 6-3 in the opener. But Tortal, who must have seen a better foe in Cortes the last season out, was more impressive as he showed no mercy in blanking Reyman Saldivar, 6-0, 6-0.
“Taas pa ang dagan, though expectation is high nga mag-abot gihapon 'ning duha sa finals. Medyo nakalamang si Brent sa ilang head-on clashes last year pero sa conditioning ra gihapon ni sila magligas,” Tortal’s coach Bebot Sanchez told VoxPop Cagayan de Oro.
Seeking to spoil another Cortes-Tortal face-off are Lanao Norte compatriots Henz Aslan Carbonilla and John Christopher Sonsona who also breezed through the opening matches with relative ease.
Carbonilla bested Austin Yepis, 6-0, 6-2; while Sonsona crippled Kicho Andre Beltis, 6-1, 6-3.
Oro’s hottest lady performer today, Mary Aubrey Calma is left alone for the task to defend turf in the under-18 girls division with her Corpus Christi teammates Titan Llavore and Gennifer Pagente both not around to entertain the visitors.
“Busy si Titan sa iyang academics while tua sa gawas si Genn as one of PH representatives in a junior tourney in India. Wala sab ang taga-Davao (Velez and Rivera), pero dili maka-relax si Aubrey kay naa silang Abarquez from Cebu and Ubay-Ubay from Lanao nga mga kusog gihapon,” said ITF-licensed referee Mario Inguito Craiz, who is fully in-charge for all the Viz-Min legs of the annual Cebuana-Lhuillier netfest.
The Cagayan de Oro leg serves as the kick-off leg of the Mindanao Series covering the places of Maranding and Tubod in Lanao Norte, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Surigao, Butuan, Camiguin , Ozamiz, Molave, Dipolog, Polomolok, Oroquieta, Cabadbaran, Iligan, Marawi, Pulacan, Labangan, Zambo Norte , Isulan , Sultan Kudarat and Surallah, South Cotabato.
