Previous Story
Russell captures UMDA 14-and-under crown
|
Posted on Apr 26 2005
After having watched other competitors take home their championship trophies Sunday afternoon, 14-year-old Russell Buenaventura was itching to do the same, and did so yesterday afternoon at the Hyatt Regency Saipan tennis courts.
The Grace Christian Academy student made it two-for-two for the Buenaventura family in the boys’ singles competition of the 2005 UMDA-CNMI Junior Tennis Championship, following up older brother Ralph’s 18-and-under title win by cruising past Calvin Yang in the 14-and-under division.
Buenaventura dominated the match and quickly took the first set courtesy of a handful of unforced errors by Yang, 6-0.
Yang put up a better showing in the second set in hopes of extending play, but only managed to win one of the seven games resulting in Buenaventura closing the match with a 6-1 clincher.
“[The match] was okay,” Buenaventura said shortly after winning the title. “He made the mistakes and I just kept trying to keep the ball in play and make him make the mistakes.”
Buenaventura had his way in the division and did not lose a set throughout the tournament. After getting a bye in the opening round, he scored a 6-0, 6-0 win over Jaw Wan Kim to advance to the semifinals.
He then had an easy time disposing of Henry Yang, earning his ticket to the final with a 6-1, 6-1 win.
Meanwhile, Calvin Yang’s runner-up journey featured a bye in the first round and a tough time against Roger Lee before edging his opponent 7-5, 6-3. He then fought off an early deficit and defeated Dominic von Siebenthal in the semifinals 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Buenaventura capped a successful tournament run after he and Yang joined forces over the weekend to take the boys’ 14-and-under doubles title. As reported earlier, the two defeated Henry Yang and Phillip Park in three sets 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Other champions include Mayuko Arriola and John Johnson in the 18-and-under doubles, Lila Mailman in the girls’ 14-and-under singles, Joe Motto Jr. in the boys’ 10-and-under singles, Cody Race and Christian Miller in the boys’ 10-and-under doubles, and Thea Minor in the girls’ 10-and-under singles.
