Magaway, Orteza lone RP bets standing in Lancer tennis qualifiers

MANILA, Philippines – Nicole Magaway held his ground against a higher seeded foreign rival to keep his bid alive for a berth in the main draw of the 20th Mitsubishi Lancer International Juniors Championships Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center. Magaway, who is ranked 1362 by the International Tennis Federation, showed up at his best against 848th ranked Jason Michael Lee of Malaysia, dealing the 10th seed a 6-1, 6-0, decision. His next opponent is 262nd ranked Venkat Iyer of India who drew a bye in the first round. The winner between the 17-year-old Magaway and Iyer will gain a seat in the 48-man boys' singles main draw to start Tuesday. Six other local netters, however, failed to reach the qualifying draw's finals as they bowed to superior opponents in straight sets. Denmark’s Mads Engsted and Thailand’s Kittipoong Chienwichai hacked out identical 6-0, 6-0 shutout wins over Juan Fidel Regis and Jeremy Carreon; Thailand’s Nuttanoon Kadchapanan eliminated John Mavrick Victoria, 6-0, 6-1; Great Britain’s Ashwin Kuppusamy ended Bletchley Rocafort’s campaign, 6-1, 6-0; Malaysia’s Christian Oliver Lee ousted Angelo Joseph Rivero, 6-2, 6-0; while Greece’s George Tarassis nosed out Marco Paolo Suntay, 6-0, 6-2. In girls’ singles, Patricia Joy Orteza rallied from a set down to win over compatriot Jasmine Ho, 0-6, 7-6(5), 6-2. She next faces China’s Di Zhao, who drew a bye in the first round, with the winner earning a slot to the main draw. As with the boys, the RP girls succumbed to better rivals as Shaninin Mae Olivarez bowed to Francesca Stephenson of Great Britian, 6-1, 6-1; Marian Jade Capadocia fell to Duygu Ozturk of Turkey, 6-1, 6-2; Maika Jae Tanpoco lost to Xiaorong Dong of China, 6-2, 6-4; Victoria Magaway yielded to Lee So-ra of Korea, 6-0, 6-1; and Marianne Hillary De Guzman crumbled against Despina Papamichail of Greece, 6-2, 6-0. –GMANews.TV