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 News from Around Banderas Bay | August 2006 
XXII Copa Canto Del Sol Reaches Semifinal Play
 Bob Cohen - PVNN
| | This sporty Mazda awaits the winner of the nine tournament circuit. The XXII Copa Canto Del Sol is the 5th event in the circuit and the winner will improve his chances of driving this beauty away. | 
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| | Youngsters play in their first round of competition. | 
| | Tennis Director Martin Parra and Canto Del Sol General Manager Rene Rodriguez at pre tournament cocktail party. |
The 22nd Annual Copa Canto Del Sol, the most prestigious annual tennis tournament played in Puerto Vallarta, has reached its semifinal and final matches in most divisions.
If local traffic has seemed heavy lately, parking anywhere near the Canto Del Sol resort is virtually impossible. A great many of the competitors and their families have traveled from Guadalajara and Tepic, taking the opportunity to mix the tennis tournament with a week on our beautiful beaches, thus the influx of autos.
The AA or Professional division had a main draw of 24 players which included 12 direct seeds, four wild card berths and eight difficult qualifying spots. The qualifiers played Tuesday and Wednesday and the eight that made it to the final draw soon found out why it is extremely difficult to advance in the main draw. Qualifiers and wild cards had to go up against the top seeds immediately, where the level of quality and intensity increases dramatically.
Norberto Aguirre, a popular local pro who won his first round match, had to play top seeded Lazaro Navarro (last year's champion) in order to advance. Norberto made a good showing, but was defeated 6-2, 6-3.
Polo Torres of the Canto Del Sol was the only other Vallarta competitor to reach the field of 24, and lost an extremely tough match 7-6, 7-5. At this time, we have the results through the quarterfinals. Be sure to check back for the results of the semifinals, which were played last night.
In the quarterfinals:
The #1 seed Lazaro Navarro, with his booming serve and powerful groundstrokes, made quick work of taking the 8th seed, Luis Vinega, with Navarro winning 6-1, 6-2.
11th seeded Luis Diaz Barriga defeated 17th seed Jose Luis Diaz 6-3, 3-0, forcing Diaz to retire.
Third seeded Marco Sanchez took on unseeded Bruno Berruti, and the unseeded Berruti kept it close before losing 6-3, 7-5.
Second seed Juan Elizondo, who sports a deadly two handed backhand and powerful forehand, took out unseeded Sergio Ibarra 6-3, 6-3 in a match that drew many fans.
Navarro and Diaz faced off and Elizondo and Sanchez played Thursday night with the winners advancing to the Championship match, which will be held Friday at 3 pm. Be sure to make it out for the finals.
The purse for this event totals $15,000 pesos, which will be divided up among the top finishers. Also, this tournament is a part of a circuit of nine tournaments in which the player with the most points after the nine events will take home a sporty 2006 Mazda, awarded by Plasencia Mazda, valued at approximately $250,000 pesos.
The final tournament to determine the winner of the car will be played at Club Hacienda in Guadalajara beginning November 6th. All eight other tournaments will be played in Guadalajara; this is the only outside event and is the fifth of the nine tournaments.
The "A" division reached the semifinal round, as top seeded Hector Martinez of Guadalajara takes on unseeded Ignacio Gonzalez of Tepic. Martinez took out Puerto Vallarta's Yan Welffens in a tough match in the quarters 6-1, 6-7, 6-3.
In the other semifinal match, Puerto Vallarta's Alejandro Garcia (15th seed) will play 2nd seeded Fernando Saavedra of Guadalajara. The semifinals will be played on Friday at 5:00PM. The Championship match will be on Saturday at 8 am. The "B" finals matchup is set with top seed Carlos Arana of Guadalajara playing 8th seeded Guillermo De La Monja of Michioacan also at 8:00AM Saturday.
Other matches will include semifinal and Championship matches from the "C", "C50" and "D" men's divisions as well as the women's "B", "C" and "D" events. Doubles play started Thursday evening and all matches will conclude Saturday morning.
That is not all, as the other part of the tournament is the 2nd Annual Copa Grupo 3. This event features the top 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 year old competitors, both male and female from Jalisco, Nayarit, as well as other states in Mexico.
Points will be awarded to participants as they thrive to improve their national standings. All matches will be played Thursday and Friday, with the finals played Saturday afternoon. |
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