Lim, Tanpoco pull thru

MANILA, Philippines - Alberto Lim Jr. and Maika Jae Tanpoco pulled off hard-earned victories to join ninth seed Jurence Mendoza in the second round of the 24th Mitsubishi Lancer International Junior Championships which got under way yesterday at the Rizal Tennis Center.

Fresh from sweeping the two titles in the Ajay Pathak Cup U14 ITF Championship, Lim, 13, bounced back from a second set defeat to repulse Ronan Joncour of France, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, while Tanpoco humbled Zhang Yukun of China, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Lim, who made it to the main draw as a wild card entry, will take on No. 14 seed Duck Hee Lee of Korea, who drew a first round bye.

Tanpoco, on the other hand, clashes with girls’ top seed Ipek Soylu of Turkey.

Mendoza, ranked ninth in this week-long event put up by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines, faces off with French qualifier Alexandre Muller, a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 winner over Korean Kang Ku Keon.

“The key was not giving up in the third set,” said Lim in Filipino.

But a host of local players bowed out right in the first round, including Andrew Joshua Cano, Dave Sebastian Mosqueda, Betto Orendain, Eric Olivarez Jr. and Marcen Gonzales.

Cano fell to Australia’s Akira Santillan, 6-3, 6-3; Mosqueda succumbed to Vietnam’s Nam Hoang Ly, 6-2, 6-0; and Orendain lost to New Zealand’s Alexander Klintcharov, 6-4, 6-2.

Olivarez yielded to Great Britain’s Jamie Malik, 6-1, 6-4, while Gonzales bowed to Chinese Taipei’s Lee Kuan-Yi, 6-3, 6-4.

Also getting an early exit were reigning Olivarez Cup titlist Marian Jade Capadocia, who lost to Cassandra Vasquez of Mexico, 7-5, 6-1, Khim Iglupas, who got trounced by China’s Xue Jiayuan, 6-0, 6-1, Katrina Orteza, who lost to India’s Rutuja Bhosale, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, Jzash Eale Canja, who absorbed a 6-1, 6-4 defeat from Japan’s Ayano Sonoda, and Isabella Mendoza, who was shown the door by Australia’s Naiktha Bains, 6-0, 6-1.