MASTER BLASTER
Neil Bravo
The Philippines has found another gem in future tennis hero Jeson Patrombon who hails from Iligan City. And there is reason enough to be ecstatic.
Jeson made it to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open juniors singles tournament in Melbourne and barely missed the bus to the semifinals with a 3-setter loss to British George Morgan. The 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 loss is nothing to be ashamed of for the Mindanaoan netter.
Patrombon is the next big thing to Philippine tennis after Francis Casey Alcantara, another junior standout from Mindanao. Nino, as he is fondly called by peers, is a child prodigy out of Cagayan de Oro City who won the juniors doubles title in the 2009 Australian Open in tandem with Hsieh Cheng-peng. The duo beat Mikhal Biryukov and Yasutaka Uchiyama in the finals, 6-4 -2.
I remember the early years of Alcantara when I took some of the kids under the Project Olympkids program of Davao Oriental in tournaments during the summer. He was a promising young kid guided by his dad in the courts of Nazareth Tennis Club in CDO. The same club is now headed by my college buddy and former Ateneo standout Johnnel Llavore who now calls CDO his home.
Patrombon and Alcantara form the nucleus of what could be the future of Philippine tennis. What’s good about it is that these boys come from Mindanao which is a perennial factory mill of tennis standouts. Tennis in Mindanao has always produced champions in several national tournaments. Many of those ended playing for colleges in Manila. A few like Alcantara, Patrombon and Davao’s Ralph Kevin Barte made it to the national juniors Davis Cup squad.
I remember Barte forming part of the rival troika in the juniors circuit with Ed Angelo Diez of Davao del Sur and James Patrick Pang of Davao Oriental. Diez eventually played for La Salle while Pang suited up for UP in the UAAP. Pang, who used his tennis scholarship to earn a Human Kinetics degree in UP, is now working for Maynilad Water. Another notable player is El Santo Santos who hails from Davao del Norte. I had the privilege of guiding Santos win a gold medal in the 2007 EAGA Friendship Games beating a power-hitting Indonesian in intense heat in Makassar City, Indonesia. Santos and Pang also teamed up to win the silver in the same tournament. Santos made it double silver after teaming up with Steffi Dizon in the mixed doubles.
The future of Mindanao tennis looks brighter even today with a number of standouts making good in the juniors ranks. Paolo Cansino, son of PHILTA regional director Titong Cansino, is one of the torch-bearers of Mindanao tennis along with Davao Oriental’s Geleardo Amazona, son of another former tennis standout Bebing of the famous racquet-wielding Amazona brothers of Mati.
If tennis continues to reap the fruits of its labor, credit the efforts of the elder Cansino who has devoted his time promoting tennis in Mindanao. A former tennis standout himself, Titong has been in the tennis program of Philta for the past two decades.
The bottomline is that we have a situation here where a sport could be Mindanao’s bright spot in sports. At a time of tennis resurgence in the country with the recent successes of the Cecil Mamiit-led Philippine teams, Mindanao could be the best breeding ground for future tennis stars of the land.
I believe that tennis should be given a close look as a possible focus sport for Mindanao and Davao City. Tennis could go the way of boxing in terms of development.
But where does tennis sit in the priority of sports in a big city like Davao? Maybe not in the top 5. But it deserves to be there along with diving, billiards, boxing and athletics.
Problem is, these events do not appear to be the focus sports in the order of priority for development and support. Basketball stays as number one. I wonder. Where we had so much failure, people tasked with developing sports put their money and mouths where it should not be.
Again, I have nothing against a particular sport, but the point we are driving at here is simple recognition. Simple situations require simple solutions. Do not fool us with social commitment or breaking the chains of poverty. Books are a good source of learning and for making people sound deeply thinking and filled with wisdom. Be wary though. Words can be deceiving. Remember, words thrown in the air are weightless.
Let us put premium on action and results.
Like what tennis has produced in Patrombon and Alcantara, and also Cansino and Amazona.
Our very own children like Cansino and Amazona and many others in tennis and other sports not as popular but productive, deserve our attention, support and recognition. These sports need some loving too.
Will the other sports please stand up. It’s time we raise a howl.
No comments:
Post a Comment