Young Ma. Caroliean Fiel flourished with her brand of play and pulled off a pair of victories to upstage fancied Kimi Brodeth for MVP honors in the Mayor Nacional “Nikko” V. Mercado National Juniors Tennis Championships at the Maasin City Tennis Club in Leyte over the weekend.
Brodeth also scored an expected two-title romp in the girls’ 16- and 18-U divisions, but Fiel’s romp in the 10-unisex and girls’ 12-U finals netted her the overall top honors she shared with Gio Manito, who dominated the boys’ side of the Group 2 tournament presented by Dunlop.
Fiel, one of the rising stars from talent-rich Ormoc City, toppled Pete Niere from Bogo City, Cebu, 4-2, 4-0, to rule the youngest category then held off Beatrice Celeste, also from Ormoc, 6-2, 7-5, for the 12-U crown in the event sponsored by Mayor Mercado as part of the city’s youth sports program’s continuing effort to produce talents like Maasin native and former Davis Cupper Ringo Navarrosa, who is also a former PCA Open titlist.
Manito, on the other hand, outdueled Kenzo Brodeth in a tense-filled finale, 6-4, 3-6, 10-5, to capture the 16-U plum then the Pardo, Cebu find crushed Allain Ocat, 6-0, 6-3, in the 18-U finals.
Brodeth, meanwhile, lived up to the hype and took the 16-U trophy with a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Davanee Velasco then posted a shutout victory over Corazon Lambonao, 6-0, 6-0, to add the 18-U plum to her growing trophy collection in the country’s longest talent-search put up by Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.
Other winners were Kenzo Brodeth, who dispatched Xian Calagos, 6-1, 6-1, for the 14-U crown with local bet Molly Tan bagging the girls’ diadem with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Celeste.
Meanwhile, action in the junior circuit, backed by ProtekTODO, PalawanPay, the Unified Tennis Philippines and UTR (Universal Tennis Rating), shifts to Baybay City beginning Thursday (March 16) with Ormoc City hosting the third Visayan swing stop on March 23-27. For listup, contact tournament organizer Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.
