RBC, jr. tennis players stand out

Rollers Basketball Club and the CNMI’s junior tennis players shared top honors last week for their outstanding games in separate tournaments.

RBC’s U16-U18B Rollers took the Turkey Fly & Shoot recreational division championship in the Guam’s 2011 Take Care Thanksgiving Hoops Fest after beating Mongmong Toto Maite Falcons in the finals, 33-21, while the Rollers U14 squad ruled the Turkey Run U14B recreational category after a 41-10 finals triumph over the Tamuning Typhoons.

Back on Saipan, the 3rd Annual Tan Holdings Tennis Classic had its second and final week of competitions with the island’s junior players topping their respective foes.

In the competitive U18 division, the lone female entry in the field, Thea Minor, stunned Rafael Jones in the finals. Other junior singles winners were Moris Villanueva (boys U15), Michael Ren (boys U12), Carol Lee (girls U12) Mikayla Lopez (girls U15), Cole Chambers (boys U10), and Tania Tan (girls U12).

In the junior doubles, Carol Lee and Lopez won the girls U15 title, Thea Minor and Christian Miller in the U18, Vincent Tudela and Haruya Eda in the boys U10, Tan and Ami Tsukagoshi in the girls’ U10, and Alex Park and Clayton Izuka in the boys U12.

Adults doubles were also played in the final week with Boyet Minor and Roy Pangelinan (men’s 40-and-above), Bobby Cruz and Lope Padilla (men’s open doubles), James Libut and Ernie Henzon (men’s 3.0), Dodong Lacbayo and Richard Asuncion (men’s 4.0), Sadako Arriola and Chieko Nagao (women’s 3.0), Joy and Theecel Minor (women’s 4.0), and Lydia Tan and Sally Lee (women’s 40-and-above) making up the champions’ list.

Other notable events last week were the playoff round in the NMIFA Men’s FA Cup, boys U12 and girls U15 FA Cup, the Traders Insurance badminton tournament, and the resumption of the GBL IT&E E Cup.

In the men’s FA Cup, Wild Bill’s and Inter Godfather’s advanced to the semis after beating Korean Football Association on Saipan, 3-1, and Tan Holdings FC, 2-1, respectively.

In the age group FA Cup, also making it to the semifinals were Pool A’s Paire boys U12 and MP United girls U15 and Pool B’s MP United boys U12 and Matansa girls U15. Paire U12 beat Shirley’s FC U12, 4-0, while MP United girls U15 won via forfeit against Shirley’s FC girls U15. In Pool B playoff matches, MP United boys U12 downed Tan Holdings girls U15, 9-0, while Matansa girls U15 defeated Paire girls U15, 2-0.

In the Traders Insurance badminton tournament, the round-robin elimination was completed with four teams advancing to the playoffs. Saipan Badminton Club topped the field, followed by Golden Racquet, Berks Blazers, and Shirley’s BC.

After postponing its games for one week, GBL action returned at the Garapan Basketball Court with IT&E Konflikt winning over Proa and Mobil prevailing over the Runnin’ Rebels.