Labasano cops 3 titles in Cebuana age group

MANILA, Philippines - Local bet Jed Labasano won all but one of his four cracks at the title, including two individual crowns, to lead the winners in the 23rd leg of the Cebuana Lhuillier Age Group Tennis Championship Series in Angeles City, Pampanga recently.

Labasano crushed Athan Arejola, 6-3, 6-2, to capture the boys’ 16-and-under plum then waylaid fellow Pampangueño Jan Torres, 6-2, 6-3, for the 18-U diadem in the tournament supported by Dunlop as the official ball. 

He later teamed up with Torres to claim the 18-U doubles trophy but settled for second in the mixed doubles as he and Aira Tolentino dropped a 6-8 decision to Olongapo City’s Althea Ong and Edgar Bongco.

Ong, meanwhile, took the girls’ 14-U title with 6-3, 6-4 win over Ruth Demafelis then partnered with Paula Uy to beat Sofia Cuarto and Jayline Manganti, 8-2, for the 18-U doubles crown.

“These young winners, Labasano and Ong, certainly are showing great potentials and it is just a matter of time that we should be seeing them in major national competitions as winners too,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, president/CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier.

Bacoor ‘s Rainier Selmar ruled the boys’ 14-U class with a tough 6-4, 7-6 win over Axl Gonzaga then teamed up with Kidron Pascua to post an 8-3 victory over Jr. Cosca and Gonzaga for the doubles plum.