Taga Tennis dedicated to Higgins

The 3rd Annual Taga Tennis Tournament kicked off with silence Thursday evening at the American Memorial Park tennis courts as participating netters pulled together in shock and grief and dedicated the event to a fellow player.

Berman Higgins, a well-known and well-liked participant of previous tournaments, past away while practicing a few days before the start of the tournament.

In honor of their late friend, participants and officials of the tournament gathered alongside Father Ryan Jimenez, taking a moment of silence and offering their prayers for Higgins.

With their hearts on their sleeves, players started their matches and it somehow eased the pain.

The first game had Toshi Beltau and Buddy Garote advance in the opening round of the men’s singles 4.5 category. Beltau showed good form against Renato Espanola and moved to the next round with a 6-3, 6-4 victory, while Garote remained focus and came through in the clutch with a 7-6 (6-2), 7-5 victory over Gerald Narciso.

For her part, youth sensation Mayuko Arriola continues to make waves in the men’s field as she advanced in the men’s 4.0 after cruising past Xu Jun 6-1, 6-1.

John Kintaro also had the same success in the same category as he stopped George Olanda in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-1.

The men’s 3.0 division had the most action as four bouts were played.

Babu Malayil had a thrilling ending against Isagani Cortez, taking the match in three sets. Malayil dominated the first set and cruised to a 6-2 victory, but Cortez came firing back and retaliated with a stronger second set charge, shutting down his opponent for a 6-0 win. The two were neck and neck in the decisive set, with Malayil having enough juice to advance with a 7-6 (7-3) clincher.

Other results in the division include Ed Taniegra taking a straight sets victory over Donald Villanueva, 6-3 and 6-0; Edgar Casing shutting down Bobby Nato, 6-0 and 6-0; and Boy Cruz strolling past John Jenkins, 6-3 and 6-2.

Meanwhile, Alex Katta kept his title hopes alive in the men’s 2.0 with a straight sets victory over Edgar Carino. Katta put up a decent push in the opener for a 6-2 win, and held off a determined Carino in the second set, 6-3, to advance.

Tournament action continued yesterday, however, results were not available as of press time. Singles play continues until Dec. 8, while doubles action will be held from Dec. 9 to 16.

A total of 64 champion and runner-up trophies would be up for grabs in 20 divisions, including the new men’s doubles over-100.

The tournament is organized and hosted by the Saipan Tennis Association, and is sponsored by Pacific Trading Co. (Miller Lite and Pepsi) and Telesource CNMI.

For more information, call STA president Roy Pangelinan at 256-7769, vice president-internal Nelia Luna at 288-5151 or 288-0859, vice president-external Ricky Castro at 285-7344, or officers Agnes Salazar at 286-8472, Vangie Espanola at 285-1468, Richard Asuncion at 287-0856, Edwin Maratas at 287-0870, Noel Manalang at 287-4415, or Peter Loyola at 483-3424. Those interested can also send email to STA at saipan_tennis@yahoo.com.