MANILA -- Cebuano netter Arthur Craig Pantino has remained optimistic about his campaign in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Juniors Circuit.
Pantino is one of the players to watch in the two-week ITF-Phinma International Juniors Championships at the Manila Polo Club indoor clay courts in Makati City. The first leg will be from November 14 to 19 while the second leg will be from November 21 to 26.
After winning the doubles title in the 1st Perlis Junior Championships in Malaysia three weeks ago, Pantino has failed to reach the podium in the next three tournaments he joined.
"It is quite disappointing and also a waste because I lost early in those three tournaments. But I lost to better players so it's okay," said Pantino in an interview on Wednesday.
Pantino and Kazakhstan's Beibit Zhukayev won the doubles title in Perlis after beating Malaysians Christian Didier Chin and Naufal Siddig Kamaruzzaman, 6-2, 6-1 in the final.
From Perlis, Pantino headed to the Sarawak Chief Minister's Cup where he lost to Indian Digvijay Pratep Singh of India (1-6, 4-6) in the second round. He teamed up with Chinese Lu Pengyu in the doubles but they were eliminated in the second round by fourth seeds Yu Bongyu and Zhou Xinmu of China, 6-4, 6-7 (3), [8-10].
After Sarawak, Pantino proceeded to Thailand for the two-leg PTT-ITF Juniors Championships in Nonthaburi province.
The first leg saw the Filipino sent packing in the first round of both singles and doubles categories. In the singles, he lost to New Zealand's Isaac Becroft, 2-6, 6-2, 1-6. He teamed up with Taiwanese Lin Han-Chih in the doubles and they were beaten by Korean Kim Dong-ju and Kazakhstan's Beibit Zhukayev, 3-6, 5-7.
In the second leg, Pantino defeated Thai qualifier Pawit Sornlaksup (6-1, 6-4) but surrendered to Vietnamese Phuong Van Nguyen in the next round. He also made it to the doubles semifinal with Lin but they lost to Swedish pair Oliver Anderson and Hugo Regner, 1-6, 6-3 [9-11].
Pantino hopes to improve his game during his two remaining years on the juniors circuit.
"I will try to be better and be able to win a couple of ITF's. But the main goal is to play in the grand slam tournaments," said 16-year-old Pantino, who is currently No. 384 in world juniors rankings.
"My ambition is to play in the grand slams as soon as possible but in order to do that, I should perform well on lower grade tournaments to raise my ranking," he added.
Helping Pantino achieve his goal is former national athlete Jun Toledo, who is the head coach of the Philippine Tennis Academy in Alabang, Muntinlupa. Also working at PTA is Coach Kenneth Salvo.
The PTA is headed by long-time tennis patron Romeo Chan, who has supported many former national players such as Bobbie Angelo and Camoy Palahang.
"Coach Jun is a really good coach and he handles the training really well," said Pantino, who has been training with Toledo for the past six years.
"The PTA is really a good training ground and junior players will learn a lot of things in tennis. The academy doesn't only teach tennis but also teaches us good manners and discipline," said Pantino.
The PTA's other students are Khim Iglupas, Bryan Otico, Shaira Hope Rivera, Bliss Bayking and Sydney Ezra Enriquez.
Because of his frequent traveling, Pantino has enrolled in a home-based study program at Seibo College in Malabon. He is now in Grade 9. (PNA)
