ABAP gets ready for battle

Six fighters are now in training in Guangzhou, China up to March 14 and 10 will report at another boot camp in Korea on April 7-17 as ABAP gears up for competitions this year starting with the Thailand Open on May 24-June 1 to culminate in the SEA Games on Dec. 9-20.

- — John Bryan Ulanday

Alex Eala fell to Valentina Ryser of Switzerland, 6-4, 2-6, 2-6, and bowed out of contention in the W75 Trnava yesterday in Slovakia.

The 19-year-old Filipina could not sustain a hot start as she dropped the next two sets for a second-round exit in the $75,000 tourney, where she was the third-seed player.

Eala, WTA No. 140, scored a 6-4, 6-2 win over WTA No. 137 Leyre Romero Gormaz of Spain in the first round but was outclassed by the lower-ranked opponent Ryser to miss out on a quarterfinal seat.