Pantino, Suarez reach doubles semis in Vietnam

FILE: The victory set up the Filipino pair against top seeds Yi Jui Lo of Chinese Taipei and Pengyu Lu of China
(Photo: Alosh Bennett/CC BY 2.0 )

MANILA, July 28—  Unranked Filipino netters Arthur Craig Pantino and Justin Suarez booked a semifinal seat in the ITF Junior Becamex Cup in Vietnam on Thursday.

Pantino and Suarez pulled off a 6-4, 6-3 win over third seeds Hsiang-Yu Chuang and Ke Chen Tseng at the Community Sport Center in Thu Dau Mot City.

The victory set up the Filipino pair against top seeds Yi Jui Lo of Chinese Taipei and Pengyu Lu of China.

Lo and Lu marched into the semifinal round after posting a 6-4, 6-4 win against Taiwanese Hong-Lin fu and Vietnamese Hoang Hung Vo.

Also advancing were Hong Kong’s Pak Hong Issac Chan and Tsz Yan Adrian Yao, and fourth seeds Phuong Van Nguyen and Huynh Thinh.

Chan and Yao defeated Vietnamese wild cards Trun Tinh Le and Tu Le Khanh Duy, 7-5, 6-2, while Nguyen and Thinh downed Taiwanese Wei-Cheng Chen and Chinese Zicheng Zeng, 6-4, 6-2.

Meanwhile, top-seeded Pantino will meet Taiwanese Ke Chen Tseng in the singles quarterfinal round.

Tseng eliminated No. 8 Malaysian Jian Keong Takeshi Koey, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Joining Pantino in the quarterfinal round were No. 2 Pengyu Lu and No. 7 Zicheng Zheng of China; No. 3 Yi Jui Lo and No. 6 Hsiang-Yu Chuang of Chinese Taipei; No. 4 Siddharth Thakran of India; and No. 5 Phuong Van Nguyen of Vietnam.

Pantino, who is currently No. 266 in the world’s juniors rankings, reached the quarterfinal round of another junior tournament in Ho Chi Minh City last week.

This year, Pantino has played in three tournaments in India, three in Thailand and one in China. (Jean T.