Ocat, Repollo score big in PPS Tacloban

MANILA, Philippines -  Top seeds Allain Ocat and Lyra Mae Repollo came away with a pair of emphatic victories each to dominate their respective sides and share the MVP honors in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Tacloban leg regional age group tennis tournament at Tacloban Tennis Courts in Leyte Tuesday.

Ocat, one of the rising stars from Ormoc City, lived up to the hype in the boys’ 12- and 14-and-under divisions, beating Russel Manlimos twice, 6-2, 6-1, and 6-2, 6-2, respectively, while Repollo ripped Hazel Coderos, 6-4, 6-1, in the 14-U final then the Naga City, Cebu ace trounced Bless Coderos, 6-3, 6-0, to pocket the 16-U diadem.

Joining the leg MVPs at center stage were Vhon Tudtud, Drenzen Bernales, Ghian Rabor, Noeus Beronio and Bless Coderos, who notched a victory each in the Group 2 tournament serving as part of the PPS-PEPP Visayas summer tour sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.

Tudtud, also from Naga, survived Ken Mejia, 3-6, 6-0, 11-9, to clinch the 18-U plum; Bernales, from Catbalogan, stunned top seed Carlo Olo, 6-2, 6-2, in the semis then held off Cedrix Bravo, 6-4, 7-6(1), to snare the 16-U title; Rabor, also from Ormoc, took the 10-unisex crown with a 4-1, 4-0 romp over Andrex Veloso; Beronio, from Sogod, Leyte, thwarted Rica dela Cerna, 6-4, 6-3, for the girls’ 12-U plum; and Bless Coderos foiled Repollo’s three-title bid with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the 18-U final.