Heo, Race to reprise rivalry in open finals

It will be another mentor vs. student match-up in the men’s open finals of the 2008 DFS Micronesian Championships, as the islands’ top netter Ji Hoon Heo will face CNMI national coach Jeff Race this afternoon at the Pacific Islands Club tennis courts.

Race was the first to advance to the championship round after easily dispatching Steve Nutting in a score of 6-0, 6-1 yesterday morning.

A few hours later, Heo joined his mentor in the game for all the marbles this Memorial Day after he fashioned out a similar 6-2, 6-0 lopsided victory over Russell Buenaventura.

Race, however, may not be in tip-top shape for today’s finals, as the former Pacific Oceania Davis Cup captain is currently under the weather.

Nonetheless, he promised to try his best to make a game out of his finals match against his former student Heo.

Heo, for his part, said he will treat his match against Race like he would any other match. He said he is trying to play as many local matches as possible to prepare himself for yet another off-island tournament early next month.

In the men’s 4.5 singles, Richard Asuncion will face Lope Padilla in the finals also set today at the San Antonio landmark.

Asuncion advanced to the finals after carving out a 6-5, 6-2 victory over Buenaventura, while Padilla surprised Nanding Cajigan, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, in their own semifinals.

Padilla and Buenaventura were seeded first and second in the division and were granted byes in the first round. Asuncion and Cajigan, for their part, had to hurdle Woo Suk Chang (6-4, 6-4) and Bong Gamab (6-1, retired), respectively, to make it to the next round.

James Camacho, meanwhile, is fast becoming one of the most promising young tennis players in the Commonwealth, and proof of this was his 7-5, 6-4 victory over Hector Benitez yesterday that landed him in the finals of the men’s 4.0.

Camacho victimized Gary Ramsey in the first round, 6-0, 6-1, while Benitez was a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Mario Buensuceso.

In the other semis of the men’s 4.0, Gabe Boyer was still battling Jorge Olanda as of press time. Boyer got a bye in the opening round, while Olanda beat Ricky Castro, 6-3, 6-2.

Dodong Salinas advanced to the championship round of the men’s 3.0 after a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ely Dolero. He will await the winner of the semis match between Dong Ik Jang and Christian Miller.

Boyer and J.W. Jang each have won against Ramsey in the round-robin format of the 40-and-over singles.

In the women’s side, Vivian Lee has one hand wrapped around the women’s open championship trophy after beating Lila Mailman in their semifinals duel, 7-5, 7-5, yesterday. She will face the winner of the match between Mayuko Arriola and Eun Kyung Lee.

In the women’s 3.0/2.0, Dina Jones and Jodel Fernandez will square off in the championship round today after each took different routes to the finals yesterday.

Jones waltzed her way to the finals with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Kinumi Tanigichi, while Fernandez needed three sets to overcome Sakiko Eda, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

In the doubles, Heo and Cody Race teamed up to beat Nathan Nutting and Rafael Jones, 6-3, 6-4, to get a good start in the round-robin boys’ 16-and-under, while Calvin Yang and Woo Suk Chang handed Nutting and Jones a 6-0, 6-2 loss.

Jake Lee and Clay McCullough-Stearns, meanwhile, will take on Miller and Tommy Choi in the boys’ 12-and-under finals.

Lee and McCullough-Stearns were a 6-0, 6-1 winner over Jordan Butcher and Aaron Lee, while Miller and Choi advanced following a 6-4, 5-7, 6-0 triumph over Ebzen Pabellon and Carl Dela Cruz.

In the girls’ 12-and-under, Mikayla Lopez and Kris Obaldo were a 6-0, 6-3 winner over Tammy Ackerman and Emily Jones, while Gabrielle Race and Neghar Rastguiy defeated Ackerman and Jones, 6-2, 6-4.