Saipan Tribune

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Monday, February 18, 2013

Finals showdowns in Coconut Classic today

Bragging rights will be at stake in the 2013 White Coconut Tennis Classic today as finalists collide in seven singles divisions title matches at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

In the boys U12 finale at 11am, in will be Joshua Abragan versus Vincent Tudela. Abragan took the finals berth in the upper half of the draw after beating Tony Atalig in the quarterfinals last Saturday, 8-6, and stunning top seed Steven Goodwin in the semis yesterday, 9-8. Tudela notched the other finals ticket after an 8-1 victory over Haruya Eda in the quarters and a semis upset, too, over No. 2 seed Robbie Schorr, 8-6.

In the U15, it will be a battle between Top 2 seeds Dylan Ackerman and Michael Ren. The top-ranked Ackerman advanced to the finals, following his semis win against Colin Ramsey last Saturday, 8-2, while Ren prevailed in the other semis pairing over Moris Villanueva, 8-4.

Aditya Rai and Gang Min Kim square off for the boys U10 crown after downing separates semis foes last Saturday. Rai eliminated Sean Lee, 6-1, while Kim ousted Rintaro Miyawaki, 6-2. Lee and Miyawaki collides in the battle for third place today.

In the boys U18 singles, the lone female entry in the field-Thea Minor-challenges Amami Sakano. The second-seeded Minor made it to the finals after downing Tommy Choi in the semis last Saturday, 8-3, while Sakano pulled off an 8-0 upset over top-ranked Rafael Jones.

Minor is also the only female player entered in the men's open singles and she also booked a finals ticket and faces Raj Rai today at 8am. Minor, who topped Jon Posner in Week 1, 8-2, marched into the finals after a walkover win over Dong Min Lee, while Rai prevailed over Rafael Jones in the other semis pairing.

In the girls U12 finals, Tania Tan meets Malika Miyawaki. Tan was way ahead of Asia Raulerson in their semis duel in the upper half of the draw last Saturday, 5-0, when the latter was forced to retire due to a minor injury. Miyawaki had a full game in the lower half of the bracket and booted out Grace Choi, 6-2.

The girls U15 semis games were also completed last Saturday with Carol Lee blanking Liza Atalig, 8-0, to advance against Heras, who thwarted Emily Jones, 8-3.

Meanwhile, in the two divisions (girls U18 and U10) with a round-robin format, Jireh Warren, Negahr Rastguiy, and Mikayla Lopez boosted their chances for the championship.

Warren is unbeaten after two games and a win over Erika Tuttle today will give her the girls U12 championship. Lopez and Rastguiy are also undefeated after two matches and they collide today at 1pm to decide the winner of the girls U18 tiara.