MANILA, Philippines – Nadine Sebastian and Jaric Lavalle topped the mixed beginners category, while Dale Montealto and Hamda Buamin ruled the intermediate division of the Padel Pilipinas Philippine Open’s culminating tournament recently at the padel facilities in Mandaluyong.
Headlining the second half of the Philippine Padel Open 2024 was the Mixed Open Finals, where Tao Yee Tan and Bryan Saarenas also Argiwon the mixed open division, with Lance Cañizares and Catrine Torp-Bjerrehus finishing second in the event held in partnership with Play Padel and Le Garde.
The seconnd half, held from May 2-5, featured matches under Mixed Beginners, Intermediate and Open categories.
“We’re really excited because we really trained hard for this,” said Sebastian, whose partner Lavalle praised padel as a “great step for us from recreational and as beginners” in the sport.
“Amazing turnout and we’re happy to see more new faces joining the tournament,” said tournament director and coach Bryan Casao. “We have players from different levels and representing various nationalities.”
The open was held in two phases — from April 25-28 and May 2-5 — with many-time tennis champion Johnny Arcilla teaming up with pro Joseph Serra winning the men’s final at the expense of Raymark Gulfo and Argil Lance Cañizar es.
Nigel Rimando and Vinz Toribio also topped the men’s intermediate class followed by the pair of Lemon Cruz and Bryan Saarenas in the first phase. Sen. Pia Cayetano and Tao Yee Tan claimed the women’s open title.
“Always grateful for the unending support of Padel Pilipinas, Play Padel comm unity, our family, and friends!” Tan said. “Winning with my partner [Cayetano] is special for me. With training and hard work, I am sure we can only get better.”
Mayumi Toribio and Violeta Volodkeviciute topped the women’s intermediate category of the event Padel Pilipinas executive director Jackie Gan hailed with optimism over the continuous growth of the sport.
“We have so much in store for Padel Pilipinas, not just tournaments and weekly clinics,” Gan said. “We are looking forwa rd to promoting Padel and discovering more talent as we bring our grassroots programs to every corner of the country.”
MANILA, Philippi nes — Esteemed filmmaker Carlos Siguion-Reyna is now the Chairman of the Cinemalaya Competition and Monitoring Committee.
Siguion-Reyna succeeded fellow filmmaker Jose Javier Reyes, who is the new Chairman of the Film Development Council of the Philippines.
Coinciding with his new role, Siguion-Reyna will still be the Cinemalaya Institute Head and Program director, overseeing the educational arm of the annual independent film festival.
The filmmaker has been giving workshops and conducting direction courses at Institute since 2015.
Siguion-Reyna received his MFA in Film at the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, teaching graduate film courses at its Singapore campus.
Related: Jose Javier Reyes named new FDCP chairman
His thesis film “Patas Lang (Fair Exchange)” won an award in the narrative category of the 1989 Nissan FOCUS Awards and was selected as one of The Outstanding Young Filipinos in the field of Arts/Cinema in 1995.
Since then, the director has done 13 feature films, all but one produced under the company Reyna Films, which was previously managed by his late mother, singer-actress Armida Siguion-Reyna.
One of his feature films, “Hari ng Tondo,” received the Special Jury Prize in the Directors’ Showcase category of the 10th edition of Cinemalaya back in 2014.
Other films saw similar success in several international film festivals in San Diego, Toronto, Newport Beach, Berlin and Singapore, as well as local industry bodies Gawad Urian, Luna Awards or the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) Awards, Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards (FAMAS) Awards and the Young Critics Circle Awards.
Siguion-Reyna served three terms as president of the Directors’ Guild of the Philippines Inc. where he taught film direction and conducted short lectures and workshops as he did at the University of the Philippines Film Institutes, the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Mowelfund Film Institute.
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