Loyola, Santos redeem themselves

Peter Loyola and Cleofe Santos can now forget about their debacle in the mixed open doubles of the 2004 Verizon Cup after they took home the championship of the same division in the 2nd Annual Toyota Tennis Tournament.

Loyola and Santos validated their No. 1 seeding at the start of the tournament, shrugging off a terrific stand by Lito Cabrera and Young Son to win 7-5, 6-1 in the championship Thursday night at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

Loyola and Santos came within a win of going all the way in the Verizon tourney last December, falling to Son’s son Daniel and Kayo Ishii in a tightly fought final.

The father-and-daughter tandem of Joe Sr. and Audrey Motto, meanwhile, added another championship hardware to the family’s cache of trophies by taking home the mixed doubles 3.0 with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Manny Jaraplasan and Merle Hudkins.

The finals of the mixed doubles 4.0, meanwhile, would feature husband going up against his wife and mother facing his son, as Dino Jones and Delia Johnson play Johnny Johnson and Letty Jones in the championship.

Dino Jones and Delia Johnson advanced after turning back Richard Asuncion and Ligaya Paculanang in three sets 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

Johnny Johnson and Letty Jones had an easier road to the finals, as they outplayed Keith Gabaldon and Vivian Lee 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

Mayuko Arriola also added another trophy to her already stacked trophy case when she dominated Lucita Pasana in their women’s open championship match 6-1, 6-1.

Sisters Dinalette and Mia Jones also celebrated a double victory.

Dinalette triumphed in the women’s 3.0 with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Minako Watanabe, while Mia did the same in the women’s 2.0 with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 defeat of Leriza Debrum.

Nanding Cajigan joined Buddy Garote in the finals of the men’s 4.5 following his 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Johnny Johnson. Ditto for Yesman Gurung, who will battle Aramis Dailo in the championship of the men’s 3.0 after he dispatched Boy Cruz 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

The Saipan Tennis Organization-sponsored event played its men’s open and men’s 4.0 singles championship matches last night.

Loyola battled Ji Hoon Heo in the final of the men’s open, while Jorge Olanda and Abet Encarnacion met in the finals of the men’s 4.0.

The Toyota tourney concludes with an awards banquet starting at 5:30pm today at the AMP tennis courts.