The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Filipino Davis Cupper Jeson Patrombon ended his campaign in the second leg of the Hong Kong-ITF Futures on Thursday after losing to Japanese Soichiro Moritani.Patrombon, playing in his first international tournament after representing the Philippines in the Davis Cup tie against Thailand last April, bowed to the eighth-seeded Moritani, 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, in their second-round encounter at the Victoria Tennis Center outdoor hard court.
It was a disappointing loss for the 24-year-old netter from Iligan City who defeated Australian Patrick Mckee and Hong Kong’s Siu-Fai Kelvin Lam in the qualifying round to earn a seat in the main draw of the $15,000 tournament sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Patrombon has been named to the national team that will compete in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, to be held on Aug. 19-30 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The other members of the team are Francis Casey Alcantara, Kim Iglupas, Anna Clarice Patrimonio, US-based players Treat Huey, Ruben Gonzales and Denise Dy, and Filipino-German Kathrina Lehnert. Head coach is Cris Cuarto.
Patrombon, who worked as coach at the Hope Tennis Academy in Chinese Taipei, is scheduled to join the third leg of the Hong Kong-ITF Futures next week.
JEAN T. MALANUM/PNA