Agra: Jessica Marie Agra will compete in China and Japan this month to gain more world ranking points. The Filipino lawyer is the highest-ranked Filipino in the women's division of the Federaci³n Internacional de P¡del (FIP) at No. 157.

According to Philippines News Agency, Agra will leave for China on Thursday to join the FIP Silver category event scheduled for July 3 to 6 in Chengdu. She will team up with Yoshino Kushima, a member of the Japan national team. They reached the semifinal round at a Silver category event in Melbourne, Australia in January.

Agra and Kushima, the No. 6 seeds, drew a bye in the first round and will face the winner between China's Zhai Yu and Hong Kong's Hiu Laam Chan, and Chinese pair Yanyan Xia and Xinyi Xu. "The top seed for China is ranked around top 30 in the world. I'm very excited to get to play another Silver tournament," Agra said in an interview on Wednesday.

From China, she will proceed to Japan for a Bronze category event from July 10 to 13. She will team up with Spanish Maria Mayoral Estrada, her partner in Abu Dhabi, UAE in May. "I need to perform well in these tournaments so I can improve my world ranking," said Agra, who reached a career-best No. 153 two weeks ago.

She made it to the semifinals with Russian Alena Vasileva in Bali, Indonesia on June 18, her third semifinal finish in a FIP Bronze event. "I feel really blessed that I'm able to get this far. The goal is to reach the top 150 or higher," said Agra, a member of the Philippine Padel Association (PPA) founded by Alenna Dawn Magpantay.

Padel, a racket sport of Mexican origin, is a mix of tennis and squash and is usually played in doubles on an enclosed court surrounded by walls of glass and metallic mesh.