Staal is star of the week

Tsunami Swimming Center Saipan’s Kai Staal made CNMI proud when he brought home two medals from the Tokyo Junior Sprint 2009 held at the Tatsumi International Swimming Stadium.

Staal held his ground against some of Japan’s best young sprinters, making it into the finals of all the three events he joined in.

The 15-year-old swimmer timed in at 32.66 seconds in the 50m breaststroke race to win the silver medal in the 13 to 14 age group. Japan’s Toshiya Tanaka took the gold medal with his time of 31.72 seconds. Staal’s time in the short course in Tokyo is better than his record in the long course (35.33 seconds).

Staal nailed his second medal in the 50m freestyle event after placing third in the finals. He clocked in at 25.63 seconds, which again shattered his long course mark of 25.68 seconds. Japan’s Takuya Shimada (25.42 seconds) won the gold medal in the 50m freestyle swim, while Hiroyuki Ishikawa (25.48 seconds) notched a silver.

The Tsunami Saipan summer completed his impressive performance in Tokyo with a finals appearance in the 100m individual medley. He finished seventh with his time of 1:04.75.

Back in local action, youth volleyball players picked up where the pros left off, competing in the Kids’ Marianas Cup.

The Sons of the Beaches was the last team left standing among the 20 squads that joined the post-17th Marianas Cup Beach Volleyball Festival tournament. Rep. Ed Ed Salas and Bethanie Battalones coached the winning team, which was composed of Dae Min Jeon, Angelo Salas, A.J. Batallones, Minung Kim, Lauren Hofschneider, and Michael Moran.

The Son of the Beaches swept Lamers in the best-of-three finals, 15-13, 15-9.

In baseball, last week’s action saw the Ford Rangers and the D-9ers forcing a three-way tie for the lead in the 2009 Budweiser Saipan Major League with the defending champion Rock Steady.

The Ford Rangers notched their third straight victory in four games following a 13-1 rout of the Young Guns Monday night at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield.

On Wednesday, the D-9ers stunned Rock Steady, 8-7, to improve to a 3-1 slate.

Over at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfield for the Majors Division of the 2009 Saipan Little League Baseball, the Ol’Aces remained on top, while the Jets kept pace with the former.

The Ol’Aces improved to a 5-0 slate after a 14-4 win over the Tanapag Falcons, while the Jets topped the San Antonio Dragons, 7-4, for a 4-1 record.

In the Juniors Division, the Patriots (5-1) regained the lead after beating the Red Sox, 11-8, while the Falcons snapped the Aztecs’ two-game winning run with an 8-7 victory.

In softball, eight teams had already gained playoffs berths, while five had been booted out, as the 2009 Budweiser Inter-Government/Business Slow-pitch Softball League nears the conclusion of the regular season.

In mixed martial arts, Kelvin “The Big Hit’ Fitial showed his top form in the All-Island Grappling Submissions Challenge: The Art of War III last Saturday at Fiesta Resort and Spa’s Hibiscus Hall.

Fitial won on points against silver medalist Francis Mendiola during their final bout in the heavyweight class.

Korean pro Bae Yong Man was also in shape, as he tamed the Kingfisher Golf Links and became the only golfer to finish under par against the windy condition at the Talofofo course en route to winning the low gross division in the Inaugural San Jose Church Fundraising Golf Tournament Saturday.

Bae drilled a 1-under par 71 in the 6,216-yard course, as he had an impressive showing in the first nine holes with a 3-under par 33. Bae birdied the par-4 No. 3 and par-3 No. 6, and had a double birdie on the par-5 No. 9.

The Korean pro struggled in the last nine holes with a 2-over par 38, but still came up with a three-stroke lead over flightmate and runner-up Jess Wabol.