Chung, Heo advance in Verizon Cup

The ongoing Verizon Tennis Cup continued to heat up at the American Memorial Park tennis Courts Tuesday night.

Third seed Jun Mun Chung and fourth seed Ji Hoon Heo were among the notable performers of the night, earning tickets to the next round of play after fighting off respectable charges in the Men’s Singles 5.0 Division.

Chung overcame a furious run by former National player Rannel Calixterio to survive, while Heo strolled to a straight set victory over Buddy Garote.

Chung was cruising in the first set, covering the court well and powered his way for an easy 6-1 win.

He, however, ran into a brick wall in the second set as Calixterio countered with a solid charge. Determined to fight his way out of the one-set deficit, Calixterio dug deep into his pocket and found ways to show signs of life as he began to gain control of the set. Calixterio was able to capitalize on several unforced errors by Chung, and managed to close the set with a 6-2 win.

Calixterio’s success would end there as Chung regained momentum and began to locate his hits where he wanted them. He clinched the victory with a 6-3 third set win.

Heo, for his part, had his way against Garote, steaming to a 6-4, 6-2 victory.

The other Men’s 5.0 match featured Nanding Cajigan defeating Lope Padilla. Cajigan won the first set 6-4, and took the second without breaking a sweat as Padilla retired.

In the Men’s 4.0, Ronnie Lacbayo slipped past John Wayne Kentaro 7-5, 6-3 while Art Lopez defeated Jaime Hagos 6-3, 6-3.

Babu Malayil and Ed Taniegra were also in a tough battle in the Men’s 3.0, with Malayil edging Taniegra in a nail-biting first set 7-6 (7-3), but the match had a surprising end as Taniegra retired in the second set. Elemen Solomon, for his part, worked for all the marbles and eliminated Mario Buensuceso 7-5, 6-3, while Joey Santiago won by default over Dr. Richard Brostrom.

In the Men’s 2.0, Ed Manucdoc proved to be a survivor as he overcame a 4-6 first set loss and a tough second set to beat Bobby Nato. Manucdoc worked relentlessly in the second set and his desperation effort worked as he edged Nato 7-5. Riding with newly built confidence, Manucdoc soared and closed the match with a 6-3 win.

Lito Santos also had success in the division, trouncing R. Achas 6-2, 6-0.

In the only Women’s Singles match, Arlene Osma defeated Asun Demapan 6-4, 6-1 in the 3.0 division.

The Mixed Doubles competition also continued with two matches.

Dino and Letty Jones paired in the 5.0 class and pulled out just enough tricks in their bag to beat Young Son and Boyet Minor 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, while the brother-sister tandem of young sensation Mayuko Arriola and Reo Arriola cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Ligaya Paculanang and Renato Espanola.