MANILA – Palarong Pambansa double gold medalist Anthony Bjorn Castigador of Iloilo City will lead the boys’ team in the Asia-Oceania zonal qualifying round of the World Juniors Tennis Championship Under 14 scheduled in Manama, Bahrain from Feb. 17 to March 1.

Marcus Lorenzo Go and Mikael Adreas Honrada are also on the team coached by John Rey Moreno.

Maristella Torrecampo, Ella Mhae Paglalunan, and Ayl Xyza Gonzaga are in the girls’ squad under ITF Level 3 coach Czarina Mae Arevalo.

The Bahrain trip will be Castigador's second overseas after Sri Lanka, where he won a gold and a silver medals at the ITF Asia U14 Development Championships in Colombo in January.

"I'm so happy for the opportunity to play again for the Philippine flag. I will do my best in Bahrain," the 12-year-old Grade 7 student at Central Philippine University said on Wednesday.

He recently won a gold medal in the secondary boys’ singles event of the Integrated Meet to qualify for the Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association competition.

Castigador ranks No. 1 in the Philippine Tennis Association U14 and No. 7 in the U16 rankings. (PNA)