The semifinals and quarterfinals of the doubles competition of the 2nd Verizon Cup were played Sunday, a day after the entire schedule was wiped out at the American Memorial Park tennis courts. <\/p>\n
In the men\u2019s open, veteran Lope Padilla and newcomer Peter Loyola played beautiful music together and are now in the finals following their 6-2, 6-3 whipping of the time-tested tandem of Jack McClure and Don Dunlop.<\/p>\n
Padilla and Loyola are now in a wait-and-see mode and will play the winner between the top-seeded team of Faheem Ebrahim and Roy Pangelinan and open greenhorns Buddy Garote and Richard Asuncion. <\/p>\n
Padilla continued on his tear through the tournament, teaming up with combustible Nicolas Son, this time in the men\u2019s 4.5, and advanced to the championship after upsetting No. 1 seeds Elmer Guzman and Ronnie Lacbayo 6-4, 7-6 (6-3). <\/p>\n
It was the fourth major upset of the tournament in five days, counting the rainout on Saturday. <\/p>\n
Action in the men\u2019s 4.0 division, meanwhile, had Boboy Sergio and Alfredo Quiroz move on to the semifinals after outplaying giant killer Jonathan Frasco and Matt Buenabajo 6-4, 6-1. <\/p>\n
The other side of the quarterfinal draw saw good friends Mohammad Ashraf and Joe Motto Sr. completely dominate Noel Dognidon and Nap Regalado 6-0, 6-2. <\/p>\n
The upset trend in the Saipan Tennis Association-organized event also reached the men\u2019s 3.0 with the top-ranked duo of Richard Brostrom and Gary Ramsey getting the boot. <\/p>\n
Father Ryan Jimenez and Benito Toshi delivered the last rites to the Commonwealth Health Center pair and are on to the semifinals after scoring a hard-earned 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) victory. <\/p>\n
Even the women top seeds were bitten by the upset bug Sunday. The latest to fall were Merle Hudkins and Gina Lopez, who were victimized by up-and-coming youth netters Kanani Ashraf and Audrey Motto 6-3, 6-3. <\/p>\n
Ashraf and Motto will pit skills and talents with Cleofe Santos and Ligaya Paculanang for all the marbles.<\/p>\n
One other women\u2019s match was played but was suspended because of rain. At the time the heavens opened up, Paculanang and Santos were on top 4-6, 6-4, 5-3 over Nelia Luna and Audrey Motto in the women\u2019s open semifinals. Motto, incidentally, was a late replacement for power-hitter Mayuko Arriola.<\/p>\n
The winner of the suspended match will face either the duo of Young Son and Letty Jones or the team of Kanani Ashraf and Hudkins for the championship.<\/p>\n
Doubles play will continue tonight at the AMP tennis courts. Singles and mixed doubles get underway tomorrow, Aug. 4.<\/p>\n
Sponsor Verizon has committed $1,000 in cash and about $2,000 worth of cellular phones, phone cards, t-shirts, caps, and other merchandize to STA for the tournament.<\/p>\n
For more information on the 2nd Verizon Cup please call Roy Pangelinan at 256-7769, Nelia Luna at 288-5151\/287-0859, Agnes Salazar at 287-0858, Richard Asuncion at 287-0856, Babu Malayil at 286-9745, or Lope Padilla at 286-9733. Those interested can also e-mail STA at saipan_tennis@yahoo.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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