Santos, Mosqueda dominate Palawan Pawnshop netfest

MANILA, Philippines - Alexie Santos and Sebastian Mosqueda put on a strong performance to nail two titles each while Cebu’s Hannah Espinosa reigned in the girls’ 18-and-under class in the Palawan Pawnshop age-group tennis circuit presented by Babolat at the Consolacion Tennis Courts in Cebu yesterday.

Santos, one of the rising stars from Palawan, overwhelmed local bet Shyne Villareal, 6-2, 6-1, to cop the girls’ 14-and-U title then stopped Zethley Alferez, 6-4, 6-3, in the 16-and-U finals to complete a golden double.

Santos also foiled Villareal, 6-2, 6-3. in the semis of the 16-and-U while Alferez booted out Toni Rose Raymundo, 6-1, 6-3, to advance to the finals.

Mosqueda, a gem of a find from Cagayan de Oro, matched that two-title feat as he thwarted Cebu’s Jan Godfrey Seno, 6-4, 6-4, to win the boys’ 16-and-U plum before blasting NCR’s Julian Dayrit, 6-2, 6-1, in the 18-and-U finals of the Group 2 tournament.

Meanwhile, the two-leg Cebu swing of the annual nationwide circuit, put up by Palawan Pawnshop chief operating officer Bobby Castro and Technosports president Guillermo Nocom, resumes today with action shifting to the Mactan Island Lawn and Airbase Tennis Courts for the boys’ 14-and-U, 10-and-U unisex and girls’ 12-and-U matches.

Espinosa secured the first crown for the home bets as she overpowered Elgy Dasian, 6-1, 6-0, to complete her romp in the premier girls’ 18-and-U while third seed Sebastian Santos, also from Palawan, stunned No. 1 Diego Dayrit, also of NCR, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) to snatch the 10-unisex diadem.

Top seed Arthur Pantino, also of Cebu, scored a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Clyde Laquio to annex the 14-and-U crown, No. 2 Jace Christian Unto stopped Santos, 6-1, 7-5, to pocket the 12-and-U title while Aklan’s Averille Sacapano bested Kiana De Asis, 6-3, 6-3, to capture the girls’ 12-and-U plum.