Jonicka Martina Guba captured third place honors in the 2008 Asian 14-Under Series finals at the Boroondara Tennis Center in Melbourne , Australia .

Shrugging off her semifinal loss, the 14-year-old Guba, who hails from La Carlota City, vented her ire on No. 1 seed Natasha Palha of India for a comprehensive 6-2, 6-2 victory yesterday.

The win evened up the head-to-head standings between the two players, who are among the elite eight standouts of Asia invited in this tournament --- one of the side events of the Australian Open.

Already owning a lot of international experience despite her young age, Guba wielded a hot racket to dump Anushka Bargava of India , 6-3, 6-2, Friday for her first win in the group stage.

But Guba was stopped on her tracks by hard-hitting No. 2 seed Prathanon Tombare, who handed her a tough three-set loss, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. The Negrense netter entered the semifinals as the No. 2 seed from her group after winning over Adelle Boey of Malaysia , who retired with Guba, 2-0, up in the first set.

Another Indian, Vaidehi Bagvat, showed Guba the door in the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-4 crushing. Bagvat eventually lost to Tombare in the finals.

Guba, champion of the ATF 14-Under Agra Cup in Manila last October and finalist in the Bahrain leg, was invited to play in the tournament by Tennis Australia , which is paying for her airfare and accommodations, along with the ATF.

The tournament is the fourth tournament outside of the country in less than a year for Guba.

Apart from Bahrain, she also competed in the Asia Oceania leg of the World Junior Tennis Championships in India and the Junior Fed Cup in Kuala Lumpur during the summer last year.*CPT

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