Beling completes rare grand slam

Luke Beling, seen here preparing to serve during his and Jeff Race?s men?s doubles game against Amami Sakano and Tommy Choi, won the men?s open singles and mixed open doubles titles in the 2014 Pacific Islands Club Tennis Championships over the weekend at the PIC hardcourt. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Luke Beling completed a sweep of his three events in the 14th Pacific Islands Club Tennis Championships, claiming two more division titles over the weekend at the PIC hardcourt.
Beling, who clinched the men’s open doubles crown with fellow coach Jeff Race in the opening week of the annual tournament, bagged the men’s open singles and mixed open doubles championships in the second and final week.

In the mixed open doubles, Beling teamed up with Mikayla Lopez and they prevailed in the round-robin tournament against two other pairs. The winning duo was first paired versus the father-and-daughter tandem of Dong Min and Carol Lee last Friday and cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory. Then last Sunday morning, Lopez and Beling were pitted against Peter Loken and Thea Minor and won anew, 6-2, 6-0, to rule the division.

A few hours after playing in the mixed open doubles, the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan tennis instructor saw action in the men’s open singles finals and beat Moris Villanueva, 6-4, 6-0. Earlier in the semifinals last Saturday afternoon, Beling also needed only two sets to eliminate Amami Sakano, 6-1, 6-0. Sakano made it to the semis after a walkover win versus Michael Ren, while Beling notched the other finals berth in the upper half of the draw, following a 6-0, 6-1 triumph against Seiya Eda.

In the lower half of the bracket, Villanueva outclassed Jake Lee, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, and then stunned CNMI coach Jeff Race in the semifinals, 6-3, 6-4, to march into the championship game. Race arranged a semis date with Villanueva after rallying past Tommy Choi, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Meanwhile, four other singles events were played in the final week of the tournament sponsored by PIC-Saipan, Pacific Trading, Co. (Gatorade and Monster), and IP&E.

In the men’s 3.0 singles finals, Randy Steele won the battle of the managers. The Triple J Motors manager swept PIC SEA and events manager Dennis Tababa in the title showdown, 6-3, 6-1. Steele also took the short route to the finals after eliminating Nick Tosh in the semis in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. Tababa earned a two-set victory, too, against fellow PIC employee Keoni Ichihara in the other semis pairing, 6-1, 6-2.

In the men’s 4.0 singles, Luther Lizama prevailed in an all-junior player title tiff against Colin Ramsey, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4. Lizama advanced into the finals after a 6-1, 6-1 victory over PIC’s Darrel Roligat, while Colin topped father Gary in the other semis match, 6-4, 6-2.

In the round-robin women’s open singles, Thea Minor won against Carol Lee and Lopez. Minor first played Lee and worked out a 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory last Saturday afternoon. The eventual women’s open singles champion then met Lopez last Sunday and swept the latter, 6-3, 6-0. Lopez settled for the runner-up honors, as she earlier defeated Lee, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).

In the women’s 3.0 finals, Tania Tan outclassed Grace Choi, 6-4, 6-2.