Newcomer rules PIC-Powerade Tennis
Faheem Ebrahim upset first seed Todd Montgomery to win the men’s singles open championship of the 2nd Annual PIC-Powerade Tennis Tournament last Sunday at the Pacific Island Club tennis courts.
Combining an aggressive net game with superb lobbying, the 21-year old PIC Club Mate won a very competitive match-up with Saipan’s No. 1 seed in two sets 7-5, 7-5.
In the first set, Ebrahim and Montgomery battled to a virtual standstill and after eight games were tied at 4-all.
Both players would then take turns breaking each other’s serve before the second seeded Ebrahim went up 6-5 lead after breaking Montgomery again one last time in the opening set.
Ebrahim would then polish off the first by holding serve in the 12th game and entered the second set carrying the momentum.
That seemed to be the case at the start of the second as the Hong Kong native won three of the first four games of the set and appeared headed for the win.
However, Montgomery would suddenly come alive at the beginning of the fifth game and reeled off four straight wins to go up 5-3 and a game away from tying Ebrahim at a set apiece.
With the specter of going into a third and deciding set staring him at the face, Ebrahim buckled down to work and battled back and won four consecutive games to win the match and the singles title.
“It feels good to win. It was hot and windy and Todd [Montgomery] played a great game, I was lucky to pull out the victory,”—said Ebrahim, who arrived on island just two months ago.
By bagging the championship, Ebrahim pocketed $200 in cash as well as gift items from sponsors PIC and Powerade. Montgomery, for his part, received $75 in cash.
On their way to their finals showdown, Ebrahim beat youthful netter Daniel Son 6-0, 6-0, while Montgomery had a more difficult time dispatching veteran Jeff Race.
In the three-set thriller, Montgomery dropped the opening set before defeating 2002 NMASA Coach of the Year awardee on a score of 0-6- 6-4, 6-4.
In the women’s open, Sally Wong handily defeated teenage tennis sensation Mayuko Arriola, 6-2, 6-3, to capture the $100 cash prize. Arriola went home with the $75 bounty.
In the men’s B division, it was Roy Pangelinan over Rannel Calixterio in another finals upset that proved to be one of the most exciting of the day.
The first seeded Calixterio won the first set before losing the next two sets to Pangelinan who eventually triumphed on a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Prior to last Sunday’s singles tournament, PIC and Powerade also hosted a doubles tournament a week earlier.
In the men’s doubles open it was the pair of Montgomery and Peter Sinclair that came away with the title after turning back the tandem of Ebrahim and Calixterio, 6-1, 6-3.
Wong and Susan Tuano copped the women’s doubles crown after a 6-1, 6-1 conquest of Young Son and Letty Jones in the finals.
Mixed doubles belonged to Pangelinan and Son after they bested Jack McClure and Wong in the championship, 6-2, 6-3.
