Taga top seeds known

History had a lot to do with the seedings in the 2nd Annual Taga Tennis Tournament, which is set to kick off its doubles competition tomorrow night at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

Weighing past performance in events organized by the Saipan Tennis Association, the pair of Faheem Ebrahim and Ji Hoon Heo and the tandem of Young Son and Kayo Ishii were named top seeds in the men’s open and women’s open divisions, respectively.

Challenging Ebrahim, a former player in the professional tour, and Heo, one of the CNMI’s top youth netters, are STA president Roy Pangelinan and ex-collegiate standout Peter Loyola, who are seeded second.

Pangelinan takes a double dip in the 4.5 level and his partnership with former lawmaker and now Public School System board member Dino Jones is good for top seed in the division. Expected to give them a stiff fight is the up-and-coming team-up of Richard Asuncion and Gerald Narciso.

The tandem of Jorge Olanda and Edwin Maratas has had a virtual lock in the seeding of the men’s 4.0 category of past STA and Filipino-American Tennis Association events, so why would the Taga Tennis Tournament be any different.

John Wayne Kintaro and Beltau Toshi are second seeds in the division, followed by Ronnie Lacbayo and Mel Pila, and the dark horse pair of Renato “Dodong” Espanola and Dr. Alberto Ventura, who both hail from the Commonwealth Health Center.

Kentaro may have only gotten second seed in 4.0 but he’s on top of the mountain in the men’s 3.0 division when he pairs with Hiob Ngirachemoi. In their rearview mirror is the duo of Romy Sotto and Roy Banados, followed by Babu Malayil and STA vice president Ricky Castro, and Phil Kalen and Gee Yuri.

John Jenkins and former Basketball Association of the Northern Mariana Islands president Abner Venus hold fort in the men’s 3.0. They will get opposition from Das Narayanan and Cris Hayes.

Son and Ishii, meanwhile, will be crowded in the women’s open by the tandem of Kazumi Imai and Yuko Kobayashi.

Favorites to win the women’s 4.0 are Nelia Luna and Arlene Osma, while expected to go all the way in the women’s 3.0 level are Asun Demapan and Ruby Gozon.

Doubles competition will last until Sunday, Dec. 5. Singles play and mixed doubles takeover the following week from Dec. 6 to Dec. 12.

In all, over 100 players have signed up for the tournament, which would hand out a total of 62 championship and runner-up trophies during the awards banquet on Dec. 18, which will also serve as STA’s Christmas and New Year’s Eve Party.

Pacific Trading Co. and Miller Lite are the main sponsors of the event with USS Peleliu Club and Yuichiro’s Printing Design as minor sponsors.

For more information about the 2nd Annual Taga Tennis Tournament, please call Pangelinan at 256-7769, vice president-internal Nelia Luna at 288-5151 or 287-0859, vice president-external Ricky Castro at 234-7426, and officers Richard Asuncion at 287-0856, Babu Malayil at 286-9745, and Lope Padilla at 286-9733. Those interested can also email STA at saipan_tennis@yahoo.com.