MANILA, Philippines — Given the chance to shine, Francine Wong eized the moment, capturing two girls’ singles titles in the MJFC Digos City National Junior Tennis Championships at the Digos City Tennis Club in Davao del Sur last Sunday.
The 14-year-old Wong turned back Sultan Kudarat’s Justine Gumbao, 6-4, 6-1, to rule her age division, then halted hometown bet Dyan Placa's giant-killing run with a determined 6-3, 6-4 victory in the 16-and-U finals of the Group 2 tournament sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) and presented by Dunlop.
Placa had electrified the home crowd with a string of upsets. The unseeded Digos standout stunned top seed Gumbao, 6-4, 6-2, in the quarterfinals before overpowering Lucia Calingasan, 6-2, 6-1, to arrange a title clash with Wong.
But the rising star from Cagayan de Oro came into the finals brimming with confidence after dispatching Clare Lara, 6-0, 6-4, and Princess Obaniana, 6-3, 6-1, in earlier rounds. Banking on her steady baseline game and composure under pressure, Wong outlasted Placa to emerge as the only double-gold winner in the fourth leg of the five-stage Mindanao swing of the country’s longest-running talent search sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop.
The series concludes in Tagum City beginning Thursday. TMT