Eight games usher in Toyota Tennis tourney

Eight matches in three divisions kicked off the 2nd Annual Toyota Tennis Tournament Wednesday evening at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

In the men’s 4.0, late entries Richard Asuncion and Johnny Johnson were among the first doubles teams to enter the second round after outlasting the May-September tandem of Tony Santos and Reo Arriola.

Hector Benitez and Buddy Garote joined them in the next phase of the competition following their straight sets 6-3, 6-3 victory over Manny Po and Jaime Hagos.

Five pairs, meanwhile, are safely out of the opening round of the men’s 3.0. Leading the cast is the Tinian pair of Archie Montecillo and Edwin Mocorro, which survived a tough three-set match against Roy Banados and Joel Santiago 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.

Their opponent in the second round will be Boy Cruz and Orly Deleon, which unlike them didn’t even break into a sweat to advance following their walkover win over Dencio Daquioag and Eugene Dasalla.

The Tinian Tennis Association actually has two pairs vying for the men’s 3.0 championship and so far early in the tournament the island south of Saipan is 2-0 following Joe San Nicolas and Budoy Mocorro’s 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Ricky Castro and Mario Buensuceso.

Feel Kalen and Keith Gabaldon and Yesman Gurung and Yiob Ngirachemoi also hurdled their first-round assignments. Kalen and Gabaldon took out Reggie Reyes and Lito Santos 6-4, 6-4, while Gurung and Ngirachemoi defeated Ramon Angeles and Noel Manalang 6-4, 6-3.

In the lone encounter in the women’s open, Nelia Luna and Lucita Pasana hammered the duo of Sally Wong and Cleofe Santos into submission 6-2, 6-3 to move into the semifinals, where they will face the top-seeded pair of Kazumi Imai and Yuko Kobayashi.

The other semifinal duel will pit Young Son and Letty Jones opposite youngsters Vivian Lee and Audrey Motto.

Before any of the games got going, organizer Saipan Tennis Association gave Microl Toyota service and body shop manager Abner Venus the honor of hitting the ceremonial first serve.

After whacking the fuzzy neon balls a couple of times to the opposite end of the court, Venus said Microl is delighted to again be sponsoring the STA event.

“We’re happy with the results of last year and look forward for this year again and hope that we get more entries for the 2005 edition. If everything goes fine then we can probably make it a yearly event from now on,” he said.

“Microl top brass are looking forward to the tournament because it gives the company a chance to give something back to the community and the exposure we get, in terms of having the Toyota brand in the paper, definitely doesn’t hurt,” he added.

STA’s two vice presidents Nelia Luna and Ricky Castro thanked Microl and the tournament’s other sponsor, Aon Insurance, for agreeing to bankroll the event for a second straight year.

Luna and Castro said the public could expect a fun and exciting two weeks of tennis. They said aside from STA regulars, members of FILATA and NMITA are also entered in the tournament as well as a handful of non-affiliated tennis enthusiasts.