Chung, Arriola top junior singles

Top seeds Jung Mun Chung and Mayuko Arriola validated the rankings by winning their respective age groups last Sunday in the DFS Micronesian Tennis Championships held at the Pacific Islands Club tennis courts.

Chung finally won against No. 2 Ralph Buenaventura after three tries in the boys 18-and-under division. The 2003 South Pacific Games veteran played superbly in the opening set and won handily. But Buenaventura fought back in the second and made it interesting before losing, 6-2, 7-5.

Both Chung and Buenaventura competed in their second match of the day after playing in the semifinals in the morning and earlier in the afternoon.

“It’s tough but I hope I can still play well with this heat and tough schedule and all,” said Chung prior to his match against Buenaventura.

Arriola, for her part, had a roller coaster ride against challenger Kanani Ashraf in the girls 14-and-under singles. After dominating the opening set, Arriola played sluggishly in the second and allowed Ashraf to force a third and deciding set.

In the rubber match, both tennis players struggled with their respective service games. At one point, Arriola committed a double fault that narrowed her lead to 3-2 but she would win the next three games to claim the championship in a score of 6-0, 0-6, 6-2.

“I didn’t hit my backhand well the entire game and my second serve completely deserted me in the second and third sets. Kanani also played great and I wasn’t playing as well as I would like to,” said Arriola.

In other junior singles finals, Russel Buenaventura outplayed Philip Park, 7-6, 7-4 in the boys 14-and-under; Benjie Decena reasserted his dominance over Joe Motto Jr., 6-2, in the boys 10-and-under; and Cleo Siebenthal was a 6-1 winner over Amy Hudkins.

In one of the most anticipated matches of the day, Jeff Race reunited with his student Kana Aikawa and defeated men’s doubles partner Todd Montgomery and Amy Ambrosier in the mixed open doubles.

Race and Aikawa, who plays for the University of Hawaii women’s tennis team, got a tough challenge from Montgomery and Ambrosier in the opening set.

Both teams let it all hang out and it resulted in some spectacular rallies, jaw-dropping winners, and terrific volleys at the net.

After Race and Aikawa squeaked past Montgomery and Ambrosier in the first, everything came down to the performance of the women as Race and Montgomery were all but tuckered out playing in their second finals of the day.

Aikawa, who has added easily 15 lbs. of muscle since playing in the NCAA, proved the steadier partner and his team-up with Race took home the championship, 6-4, 6-2.

In the only other mixed doubles final, Richard Asuncion and Ligaya Paculanang outplayed Cleofe Santos and Hector Benitez, 6-0, 6-3.

After Race and Montgomery claimed the men’s open doubles, Kayo Ishii and Kazumi Imai followed suit in the women’s open after turning back the spirited pair of Ambrosier and Sally Wong, 6-3, 5-4.

Paculanang then won her second championship of the tourney, pairing with Santos to beat Vivian Lee and Lila Mailman, 6-2, 6-0.

Eli Buenaventura then showed he is not yet over the hill after the Micronesian Games medalist won two championships.

Buenaventura first teamed up with Roy Pangelinan to humble Gustavo Neri and Perry Cacdac, 6-2, 6-3, in the men’s 4.0 doubles. He then closed out Dr. Mohammad Ashraf, 6-2, 6-2, in the men’s 40-and-over singles.

Brothers Sonny and Ronnie Decena also gave a good account of themselves after the duo hurdled the pair of Father Ryan Jimenez and Michael Robert, 6-3, 6-2, in the men’s 3.0 doubles.