Loyola stuns Chung; Arriola earns ticket to 4.0 finale

A dramatic upset highlighted Wednesday night’s 2004 Verizon Tennis Cup action at the American Memorial Park tennis courts, as veteran Jung Mun Chung became the first seeded player to fall in the Men’s Singles 5.0 category, while top seed Mayuko Arriola earned her ticket to the Women’s Singles 4.0 finale.

Chung, seeded third in the tournament, was coming off a great comeback thriller against former National player Rannel Calixterio the day before and seemed to have been cruising until he ran into a determined Peter Loyola, who played consistently enough en route to stunning Chung in straight sets.

The two battled intensely in the opening set, with neither willing to give in. Loyola, however, managed to set the tone of things to come as he overcame Chung’s charge to eck out a 7-5 win.

Chung would fall apart from there and seeing the golden opportunity at hand, Loyola capitalized and had an easier time nailing the final touches to eliminate Chung, 6-2.

Fourth seed Ji Hoon Heo, for his part, advanced in the 5.0, strolling to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Nanding Cajigan.

In the Men’s 4.0, Renato Espanola was taken to the limit but still came out on top behind some crafty hitting in the clutch to defeat Beltau Toshi 6-4, 7-6 while Tony Santos kept his hopes alive with a lopsided victory over Art Lopez 6-0, 6-0. Elmer Guzman also advanced in the division with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Nap Regalado.

Action in the Men’s 3.0 included Babu Malayil continuing his impressive run while ending Fr. Ryan Jimenez hopes with a 6-3, 6-2 win. Michael Robert and Rodel Macasinag also survived the evening, with Robert trouncing Elemen Solomon 6-4, 6-4 and Macasinag outplaying Joey Santiago 6-3, 6-4.

In the lone Men’s 2.0 match, Ed Manucdoc defeated Abner Venus in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.

In the women’s corner, Arriola had her way against Vivian Lee in the 4.0 class, schooling her opponent before leaving with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

With the win, the young tennis sensation earned the right to face fellow youth standout Kanani Ashraf in the championship match.

Several Mixed Doubles matches were also contested in the 4.0 category, highlighted by a nerve-wrecking show by the duo of Arlene Osma and Buddy Garote and the tandem of Nelia Luna and Edwin Maratas.

The two pairs threw everything but the kitchen sink at each other from beginning to end, each working relentlessly for every point.

Osma and Garote wounded up stealing the first set, 7-6 (7-5), but Luna and Maratas weren’t about to let the match slip away and came storming back in the second set for a 6-4 win.

The match had spectators on the edge of their seats as neither of the two managed to break away from the other. One had to falter, and in the end, Osma and Garote proved that it would not come from their side as they edged Luna and Maratas 7-5 for the hard-earned victory.

Other matches in the division included Cleofe Santos and Ronnie Lacbayo beating Merli Hudkins and Nanding Cajigan 6-3, 6-3 while the father-daughter duo of Dr. Muhammad Ashraf and Kanani bested the brother-sister combo of Mayuko and Reo Arriola 6-4, 6-3.