Tambalque, Villaroman eye top finish in Pradera

THE International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI)

2023 Junior Philippine Golf Tour (JPGT) Series moves to Lubao in Pampanga on Sunday with Round 3 of the 18-hole stroke play tournament for boys’ 13-14 and 15-18 age groups and girls’ 15-18 play at the sprawling Pradera Golf and Country Club. The 48-player field set to vie for top honors and ranking points surpasses the 45-player cast in the last JPGT leg at Valley Golf Club in Antipolo, which featured the boys’ and girls’ 9-10, boys’ and girls’ 11-12 and girls’ 13-14 classes, as the series continues to gain traction while providing a new platform for these youngsters to hone and develop their talent and skills.

The JPGT series, organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. and sponsored by long-time golf patron ICTSI, also includes the drive, chip and putt skills challenge.

Patrick Tambalque, the Round 1 winner at Mount Malarayat last June, seeks another top finish in the 13-14 division that also drew the likes of Tristan Padilla, Alex Crisostomo, Bien Fajardo, Gabriel Handog, Felix Saludar, Ramon Fabie, Santi Asuncion and Clark Bayani.

Z achary Villaroman, on the other hand, leads the chase in the 15-18 category that includes David

Serdenia, Alonso Espartero, Zeus Sara, Rafael Manaol and Vasco Esquivel, while Angelica Bañez, Casey Frankum and Lee Ji Won banner the girls’ 15-18 division at the par-72 course, a regular venue of the Philippine Golf Tour and Ladies PGT circuits.

Play will be under the Modified Stableford scoring system.

Registration starts at 6 a.m. with the first group to tee off at 7 a.m.

Spicing up the boys’ 13-14 battle are Geoffrey Tan, Ryan Nicolas, Jr., Santi Asuncion, Beng Bang-I, Carlos Taruc, Stefano Tami, Rafael See, Luciano Copok, Lorenzo Lim, Harry Sales, Justin See, Akio Lee, Gabriel See and Seth Koa.

5-0 rout of Zambia. But those two opponents were among the lowestranked teams in the tournament, with Zambia a World Cup debutante.

JAPAN-NORWAY

JAPAN looked awfully strong in a three-game sweep of Group C, and now faces Norway, which was second in Group A despite playing most of the first round without star forward Ada Hegerberg.

H egerberg trained with her teammates in Wellington on Friday but hasn’t played in more than two weeks, in Norway’s tournamentopening loss to New Zealand. She was listed in the starting lineup ahead of Norway’s game against Switzerland only to be a game-time scratch with a groin injury. She didn’t play the finale against the Philippines, and replacement Sophie Roman Haug scored a hat trick. Norway coach Hege Riise wouldn’t confirm Hegerberg’s playing status against Japan.

She’s been following the medical plan and been successful in every step of that plan,” Riise said. “So we will see her in training [Friday] and see how how she reacts to that, like the last step before the game.”

And we prepare for Ada to play or come in,” he said, noting that having two strong choices at forward is “luxury for me as a coach.”

Japan, meanwhile, sailed through group play with 11 goals over its three games. The Japanese have yet to concede a goal this tournament.

Adamson U in Invitationals finals

ADAMSON University soared to the Shakey’ Super League National Invitationals final after sending University of Perpetual Help System Dalta crashing back to earth with a convincing 25-19, 25-21, 25-16 semifinal victory Friday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

The Lady Falcons needed only 76 minutes in halting the Lady Altas’ run that included a victory over two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association champion College of Saint Benilde in the quarterfinals.

Ayesha Juegos had 29 points for Adamson University which will face the winner of the semifinal clash between De La Salle and University of Santo Tomas set late Friday.

T he best-of-three finals are set next week.

M aria Rochelle Lalongisip banged in 21 points while Lucille Almonte and Lorene Toring added 15 and 10 points, respectively, for yet another sweep by Adamson University in the 12-team tournament presented by Eurotel and Victory Liner and in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education.

It’s God’s will we’re in the finals,” Adamson University’s first-year coach JP Yude said. “But we have to prepare well for the finals.”

The Lady Falcons finished third in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines last season.

ALMONTE plays a key role for the Lady Falcons.

S haila Omipon, Razel Paula Aldea and Charmaine Ocado had 17, 16 and 14 points, respectively, for Perpetual Help, while NCAA MVP Mary Rhose Dapol settled for only nine points after exploding with 33 against Saint Benilde.