DFS crowns Jr. singles, adult doubles champs

Champions in various divisions in the 27th Annual Duty Free Shop-Micronesian Tennis Tournament were crowned in Sunday’s finals held at the Pacific Islands Club courts.

Leading the list of winners is boys’ 18-and-under singles champion James Camacho and the veteran tandem of Jeff Race and Peter Loyola in the men’s open doubles event.

Camacho, the CNMI’s fourth-ranked Under-18 netter, bested a tough field that included Junior top seed Russell Buenaventura, Woo Suk Chang, Joseph Jang, Andy Nutting, and Calvin Yang to win this year’s age division that was dominated in the past by Ji Hoon Heo.

Camacho scored a clinical 6-0, 6-1 decision against the fifth-ranked Chang.

Girls’ 18-and-under top seed Mayuko Arriola earned her last division crown after a 6-1, 6-0 triumph over fifth-ranked Thea Minor.

Rafael Jones and Ilia Corella won the boys’ and girls’ 13-and-under titles after beating separate opponents. Jones scored a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Jake Lee while Corella pulled off a 6-3, 6-4 decision against Amy Arenovski.

Jones scored a semifinal upset beating good friend and top seed Christian Miller, 6-2, 6-4, to earn the first finals ticket, while Lee pulled off a 7-6, 6-1 win over Lucas Nutting.

Boys’ 9-and-under division top seed Christopher Cajigan had some anxious moments before winning the title in the same age group. Cajigan scored a 6-3 win over Carl Dela Cruz but was pushed to the limit by ninth seed Evzen Pabellon in the semifinals.

Cajigan cruised to an early 3-0 lead but Pabellon did not give up and grabbed the advantage at 4-3. The score was tied at 5-5 entering the 11th game when Cajigan’s experience prevailed, as he won the last two games to win the 90-minute contest.

Tammy Ackerman bested Emily Jones, 6-2, in their head-to-head match up in the girls’ 9-and-under singles.

In the adult division, Race and Loyola hoisted the men’s open doubles trophy after a 6-3, 6-3 demolition of Heo and Nicolas Son. Race then added the mixed doubles open crown when he teamed up with Arriola in scoring a 6-2, 6-2 decision against Loyola and Lydia Tan.

Loyola and Tan were coming off a hard-earned 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 semifinal win over Peter Loken and Vivian Lee.

In the women’s doubles, Thea Minor and Cleofe Santos squeezed out a 6-7, 6-0, 6-3 win over Theecel Minor and Tisha Fernandez, while Gary Ramsey and Nanding Cajigan outlasted Richard Brostrom and Fr. Ryan Jimenez, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 in the men’s 4.0 doubles.

Dino Jones teamed up with Roy Pangelinan to claim the men’s 40-and-over doubles crown where they scored a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Gabriel Colombo and Kentaro Imaya.

Dong Ik Jang and Joseph Jang defeated Steve Nutting and Andy Nutting, 7-5, 6-3, in the men’s 3.0 doubles, while Yuri Hatamata and Imaya downed MayLing Colombo and Gabriel Colombo in the mixed 3.0/2.0 doubles.

Action continues this weekend for the junior doubles and adult singles events at the PIC courts where Heo will be defending his men’s open crown.