Kang, Paik take boys U12 doubles crown

Daniel Kang serves during his and Seung Jin Paik’s boys U12 doubles game against Rintaro Miyawaki and Richard Steele in the 16th PIC Tennis Championships yesterday at the Pacific Islands Club courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The tandem of Daniel Kang and Seung Jin Paik claimed the boys U12 doubles championship in the 16th PIC Tennis Championships after topping the round-robin contest over the weekend at the Pacific Islands Club courts.

Paik and Kang finished the division with a 2-0 record, sealing the title yester after sweeping Rintaro Miyawaki and Richard Steele, 6-2, 6-2. Kang and Paik’s other victory was registered last Saturday when they also took only two sets to down Andrew Chung and Min Gi Jung, 6-0, 6-1. Miyawaki and Steele won, too against Jung and Chung (default) last Saturday to settle for the runner-up honors.

Meanwhile, three other junior pairs were crowned champions in the second and final week of the annual tournament, while CNMI coach Jeff Race and junior player Isabel Heras ruled in mixed Open doubles event.

Race and Heras secured the division title following a 6-2, 6-1 finals win against Moris Villanueva and Mikayla Lopez yesterday. The finalists were the Top 2 seeds in the 10-team field.

The eventual champions were at the upper half of the draw and needed two wins to make it to the finals. Race and Heras first posted a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Asia Raulerson and Ryan Cho, and then eliminated Tony Kim and Tania Tan, 6-3, 6-2, to get the finals seat at the top half of the draw. Kim and Tan marched into the semifinals following a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win against Lydia Tan and Ken Imaya.

At the lower half of the draw, Villanueva and Lopez downed Ken Song and Malikaw Miyawaki, 6-1, 6-3, to set a semis date against Carol and Dong Min Lee, which knocked out Martin Jambor and Wendi Herring, 6-1, 6-1. In the semis, Lopez and Villanueva outclassed the Lees, 6-1, 7-5.

The duo of Donn Dunlop and Marivic Rosario was the other pair that joined the mixed Open doubles event and it fell to Song and Miyawaki in the opening round, 5-7, 6-7.

Kim played his second doubles event over the weekend and this time he came out victorious after teaming up with Michael Ren in the boys U16 division. Kim and Ren prevailed in the round-robin competition after beating Steven Goodwin and Vincent Tudela last Saturday, 6-3, 6-3, and Song and Robbie Schorr yesterday, 6-4, 6-4. Schorr and Song ended up in second place as they slipped past Tudela and Goodwin in an earlier game, 4-6, 6-1, 10-3.

In the girls U16 doubles division, Tania Tan and Miyawaki won in the finals against Ami Tsukagoshi and Mimi Sakano, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). The eventual champions barged into the title game after ousting Conatsu Kaga and Grace Choi, 6-3, 6-3, while Tsukagoshi and Sakano took the other finals berth following a 6-4, 6-1 victory against Asia Raulerson and Maria Gregoire.

In the girls U12 double faceoff between Ericka Tuttle and Coume Kaga and Maaya Sato and Erie Ortega, the first pair coasted to a 6-1, 6-1 win.

The champions and runners-up in the PIC tournament were awarded with trophies. This year’s competition was supported by PIC, Pacific Trading Company, Calvo’s Select Care, Kanoa, and Coral Ocean Point.