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Lopez, Rastguiy prevail
Junior players Mikayla Lopez and Negahr Rastguiy swept their foes to bag the women’s Open doubles crown in the 15th PIC Tennis Championships last weekend at the Pacific Islands Club hard courts.
Mikayla Lopez makes a volley near the net, while Negahr Rastguiy looks on during their women’s open doubles division title match against mother and daughter Eun Kyoung and Carol Lee in the PIC tournament last Sunday at the Pacific Islands Club hard courts.
(Roselyn B. Monroyo)
Rastguiy and Lopez clinched the division championship after a 6-3, 6-4 win over the mother-and-daughter tandem of Eun Kyoung and Carol Lee last Sunday. Last Saturday, Lee and Rastguiy also took only two sets to beat Marivic Rosario and Tisha Ferrer, 6-0, 6-3, and advanced to the finals against the Lees. Carol and Eun Young made it to the finals after easing past the junior players Tania Tan and Malika Miyawaki, 6-0, 6-1.
Meanwhile, the pairs of Luke Beling and Peter Loken, Rai Rai and Dong Min Lee, Joshua and Eric Abragan, and Chiharu Sato and Sakiko Eda were the other doubles winners in Week 1 of the annual tournament.
Loken and Beling earned the men’s open doubles title after outclassing Jeff Race and Tommy Choi in last Sunday’s finale, 6-2, 7-5. The eventual champions barged into the title match after waltzing past Bobby Cruz and Rai in the semifinals of the upper bracket, 6-2, 6-4. In the lower bracket semis, Race and Choi had a tougher time, eking out a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) victory against the junior pair of Luther Lizama and Colin Ramsey.
Rai also played in the men’s 40-and-above doubles and teamed up with Dong Min Lee in downing Donn Dunlop and Nicky Nichols in last Sunday’s finals, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. The Rai and Lee duo marched into the championship game following a three-set victory over Keisuke Takagi and Reo Arriola in the semis, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. In the other Final Four tiff, Dunlop and Nichols edged junior players Tony Kim and Robbie Schorr, 6-4, 6-4.
In the men’s 3.0 doubles finals, the father-and-son pair of Eric and Joshua Abran swept the PIC tandem of Dennis Tababa and Glenn Policare, 6-2, 6-3.
In the women’s 3.0 doubles title match, Sato and Eda cruised to a 6-0 win in the opening set and completed their easy victory against Vickie Izuka and Mayling Colombo after the latter retired with the winning pair ahead, 4-1.
Meanwhile, the final week of the PIC tournament will be played this weekend with players competing in the junior doubles and adults singles events.
