MANILA, Philippines — KOREAN Yerin Lee and Indian Daksh Kukreti ruled their respective divisions in the first leg of the Oscar J. Hilado J60 World Tennis Championship Week 1 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center Sunday.
The top-ranked Lee relied on her solid forehand and backhand to demolish Australian Taylah Lessue, 6-0, 6-0
"Very good, I am happy to win my first tournament in the Philippines. I will try to also win the second leg," said the 14-year-old Lee, who won three titles back home before coming to Manila.
Meanwhile, the unseeded Kukreti secured the boys title after beating second seed Ryu Kotikula of Thailand, 7-5, 6-1.
Kukreti ousted No. 1 Dharma Pantaratorn of Thailand in the quarters before eliminating compatriot and seventh seed Ribhav Saroha in the semis.
Meanwhile, Filipino pair Stefi Marithe Aludo and Louraine Jallorina downed Lee and Seojin Park, 7-5, 6-2, to reach the girls' doubles finals in the the event offering World Tennis (formerly International Tennis Federation) points.
Aludo and Jallorina will face Ai Shin Huang of Chinese Taipei and Han Frida Siu of Hong Kong, who prevailed over Filipino Jana Jelena Nicole Diaz and Indonesian Assyifa Khansa Putri Raga, 4-6, 6-3 (10-7).
In the boys doubles, locals John Kendrick Bona and Stephen Yu Fuertes won over Kotikula and Pantaratorn, 6-4, 3-0 (ret) to advance in the final against Chinese Taipei's Weibo Huang and Bing-Huan Tsai, who beat compatriot Kousuke Ko and Indian Ribhav Saroha, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 10-6.
The second leg will start with the qualifying matches on Monday.
Now on its 18th edition, the annual tournament is renamed in honor of the late PHINMA Corp. Chairman Emeritus Oscar J. Hilado in recognition of his lifelong support for and contributions to Philippine tennis.
Past champions include Alexandra Eala, Francis Casey Alcantara, John Bryan Otico, Arthur Craig Pantino, Khim Iglupas, Tennielle Madis and Stefi Marithe Aludo. TMT
