Champions lauded at STA ceremony

The Saipan Grand Hotel Madonna Disco Hall was filled to capacity Saturday night as many gathered to witness the crowning of the champions in the recent 2004 Verizon Tennis Cup.

Hosted by the Saipan Tennis Association, the event also featured an induction of new STA officers, as well as presentation of certificates to individuals who took part in the recent USTA Development Coach Workshop in March.

Leading the way for the trophy recipients was Men’s Singles Open champion Faheem Ebrahim, who after receiving his first place hardware, said he enjoyed the way players and organizers came together during the tournament.

“It’s really great the way everyone came together and did their part, and made this a great tournament to play in,” he said.

Also being lauded for their championship runs were Renato Espanola (men’s 4.0), Babu Malayil (men’s 3.0), and Lito Santos (men’s 2.0).

Recognized as runners up in the men’s singles were Tim Quan (Open), Elmer Guzman (4.0), Mike Roberts (3.0), and Ed Manucdoc (2.0).

Taking top honors in the women’s corner was 11-year-old Kanani Ashraf, who celebrated her birthday this past August 12 by winning the singles 4.0 category, while Arlene Osma earned a piece of the spotlight after bagging the 3.0 division.

Fellow youth netter Mayuko Arriola took home runner-up in the 4.0 class, while Mina Solomon did the same in the 3.0.

Ashraf, for her part, was not done by a long shot as she also received trophies for winning two mixed doubles championships as well. She teamed up with father Dr. Mohammad Ashraf to win the 4.0 division, and joined forces with Roy Pangelinan to capture the 5.0 division title. Earlier in the tournament, she combined with Audrey Motto to win the women’s 4.0 doubles after defeating Ligaya Paculanang and Cleofe Santos.

Also having respectable finishes in the mixed doubles were Cleofe Santos and Ronnie Lacbayo in the 4.0 and Nelia Luna and Peter Loyola in the 5.0.

The team of Marlon Estigoy and Paculanang were also recognized with awards after winning the mixed doubles 3.0. Finishing in second was the team of Agnes Salazar and Babu Malayil.

The one-two punch of Lope Padilla and Nicolas Son was too much to handle in the men’s doubles 4.5 division, while Ronnie Lacbayo and Nanding Cajigan topped the 4.0 division. The team of Loyola and Hector Guiterrez finished in second in the 4.5, and the same was for Jess Pacheco and Tony Santos in the 4.0.

Fr. Ryan Jimenez and Beltau Toshi proved to be the top guns in the men’s doubles 3.0 after beating all odds, while Malayil and Noel Manalang put up a good showing and placed second.

Emily Kwan and Ellen Uy of Tinian also represented well on the court, and defeated Salazar and Minako Watanabe in the women’s 3.0.

STA president Roy Pangelinan commended all players for making the tournament successful despite the weather conditions.

“Everything went smoothly…the only thing was the inclement weather,” he said. “[But] with the patience and understanding of the players, we were able to get through another successful tournament.”

The tournament, which took place earlier in the month, suffered several setbacks due to rainy weather, forcing officials to reschedule many matches.

“I also want to thank our major sponsor Verizon for all their contributions, as well as Country House, Pacific Trading Co., Marpac, and Coca Cola,” Pangelinan said.

Induction of officers

Meanwhile, other elected officers were Nelia Luna as vice president, Agnes Salazar as secretary, Ligaya Paculanang as treasurer, and Rocky Castro as internal and external officer. Other board members were also inducted.

Also being recognized were individuals that took part in the USTA Development Coach Workshop. Organized in cooperation with the STA and facilitated through a federal grant, the workshop was administered by USTA Hawaii Recreational Tennis director Arnold Yuen, who has 16 years of experience in coaching team tennis and large groups.

The one-day workshop was a marathon session that started at 9am and wrapped up well past 4pm. It dealt with every topic an aspiring tennis coach needs to learn from getting novices started in the sport, to motivating youngsters, and to keeping higher-level netters interested with the training.

Note: The ceremony was held a couple of weeks after the final match as officials awaited the return of Ashraf, Arriola, Quan, and Ji Hoon Heo, who all competed in the recent ITF Pacific Oceania Junior Tennis championships in Lautoka, Fiji. The four returned early Saturday morning.