Mister-Nelson are kings of the beach

Tyce Mister and Chris Nelson joined forces and emerged from an 11-team field to take the fourth and final qualifier for the 2006 Micronesian Games in picture perfect conditions on Saturday at the Pacific Islands Club.

Mister-Nelson scored four wins in the winners’ bracket before eliminating Russ Quinn and Bill Owens, 25-24, in one of the day’s closest contests in which neither team was able to score more than a couple points in a row to gain a decided advantage.

Both Mister-Nelson and Quinn-Owens each had the opportunity to score a victory in the finals with one-point leads, but the back-and-forth game was ultimately decided when Mister-Nelson reached the 25-point cap.

Making the accomplishment even more substantial is the fact that Mister started his day by earning a spot on the CNMI’s triathlon team after taking third place in the Northern Mariana Islands Triathlon Federation’s Olympic-distance qualifier.

After skating into the second round with a tournament-opening bye, Mister-Nelson laid waste to Sonny John and Paul Gauci, 21-3, but the competition put up more of a fight throughout the rest of the day.

They tandem followed with back-to-back wins over Kitinan Intharaluk and Jazz Roscow, 21-15, and by edging Rob Epley and Mike Howard, 21-19, to reach the finals.

The win did more than just give the duo a tournament triumph, as Mister-Nelson earned a berth in NMIVA’s invitation-only final round of play. Nelson said that he called Mister and asked about the possibility of them teaming up because he knew that the weekend winner would make it into the soon-to-be scheduled Final Four tournament to earn the right to represent the CNMI this summer when some 1,700 athletes come to Saipan for the Games.

Now the duo plans on repeating their first place finish and take its place among the local athletes behind the latte stone, star, and mwarmwar during the opening ceremonies in July.

Quinn-Owens had a more challenging route to the finals as they fought their way through the losers’ bracket after falling to Kaycee Rengaelur and Quincy Johnson in the opening round, 21-14.

The early loss forced the duo to focus, as they scored successive victories over Nick Castro and Dale Roberts, 21-19, Max Kuan and Derick Tudela, 21-14, and Epley-Howard, 21-13, to face Mister-Nelson.

While the date for the final tournament has not been set, the pairings are already lined up, as Mister-Nelson will first face Kaycee Rengaelur and Quincy Johnson in the opening round, while Jess Palacios and Marino Pungilug will play Nick Castro and Dan Westphal.