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ANJA VANESSA Peter and Edilyn Balanga, a pair of young Fil-foreigners kept the Philippine flag afloat yesterday in the Holcim-ITF Philippine Women's Circuit at the Ynares Socio-Cultural Sports Center in Pasig City. Peter, the 16-year-old daughter of a German national and a Filipina mother from Tacloban City, caused a major ripple as she bundled out second seed Cassandra Barr of Australia, 2-6, 7-5, 6-0. Not to be outdone, Balanga, the 15-year-old Spain-based daughter of true-blue Pangasinenses, banked on the momentum of her first round upset of fifth seed Japanese Naoko Horikawa by to outplay Varanya Vijuksanaboon, 6-4, 6-2. Peter, a Grade 10 student at Brent School in Subic, raced to a 5-2 lead in the second set but the Australian evened things up by winning the next three games. Egged on by a sparse crowd that included her father, Siegfred, the Riyadh-born Peter, held her serve in the next game and took a break in the 12th game of the set to even matters with the Australian. It was Peter all the way from there as she prowled the baseline and methodically returned all the big shots of Barr, who seemed to have lost her patience in the third set Peter's win set off a spate of upsets in the $10,000 event, one of two successive tournaments scheduled by the ITF here. When the smoke of battle cleared, only two seeds - top pick Septi Mende of Indonesia and No. 7 Lee Ye-ra of South Korea - were left standing. Ayu-Fani Damayanti of Indonesia followed Peter's example by bumping off third seed Pichittra Thongdach of Thailand and South Korean Bae Hae-youm followed suit by thumping fourth pick Nudnida Luangnam of Thailand, 6-3, 7-5. South Korean LyooSuh Hee-sun completed the day's upheavals with a 6-3, 6-2 ouster of eighth seed Birgit Ritschka of Austria. Mende showed Porntip Mulsap of Thailand why she deserves the top seeding by hammering out a 6-1, 6-1 victory to set up a quarterfinal meeting with Lee, who whitewashed local ace Noelle Zoleta, 6-0, 6-0. Also making it to the quarterfinals was Kim Hae-seong of South Korea, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over compatriot Sung Eun-hee. The tournament, presented by Holcim and supported by the ITF Grand Slam Development Fund, Wilson balls and Holiday Inn Manila Galleria Hotel, resumes with the singles and doubles quarterfinals at 9 a.m. today. The second leg of the circuit, set Nov. 8 to 14, will be held at the Manila Polo Club. |
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