Loyola, Pangelinan reach doubles open finals

Veterans Peter Loyola and Roy Pangelinan kept their hopes of reigning supreme in the men’s open doubles alive advancing past the semifinals Tuesday night in the ongoing 3rd Annual Taga Tennis Tournament at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

The elite one-two punch continued to breeze past opponents, with their latest victims being fellow veterans Ed Johnson and Lope Padilla.

Pangelinan and Loyola communicated well, shared the court with perfection, and with everything falling into place, picked up a straight sets victory, 6-2 and 6-3.

Pangelinan also earned another finals berth after he and partner Boyet Minor put up another successful charge in the men’s 4.5 category, beating Richard Asuncion and Buddy Garote in straight sets also, 6-3 and 6-3.

For their part, John Wayne Kintaro and Hiub Ngirachemor survived a tough 4.0 challenge from Father Ryan Jimenez and Babu Malayil, streaking past the duo with a 6-4, 7-5 victory, while Jorge Olanda and Edwin Maratas had an easier time against Chuck Sayon and Didith Julve 6-4, 6-1.

Also living to play another day were Art Lopez and Mario Buensuceso, who were given strong resistance in the first set but managed to eliminate Diony Peralta and Xu Jun 7-5, 6-2 in the men’s 3.0.

The men’s 2.0 quarterfinals also featured Sonny Shaker and Alex Katta edging Quentin Ramsey and Ken Kwan 6-3, 7-6 (10-8).

In women’s action, Jay El-Rahi and Karen Buetner worked up a good sweat with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Becky Covarrubia and Rika Matsumoto in the round-robin women’s 3.0 category.

The event is organized by the Saipan Tennis Association and sponsored by Miller Lite and Pepsi, as well as Telesource CNMI.

STA official Nelia Luna said action should be completed by today. Several finals and semifinal bouts were scheduled for last night, however, results were not available as of press time.

For more information, contact Roy Pangelinan at 256-7769, Nelia Luna at 288-5151 or 288-0859, Ricky Castro at 285-7344, Agnes Salazar at 286-8472, Vangie Espanola at 285-1468, Richard Asuncion at 287-0856, Edwin Maratas at 287-0870, Noel Manalang at 287-4415, Lenny Pantaleon at 285-9500, Peter Loyola at 285-3135, Marlon Estigoy at 287-0895, or email at saipan_tennis@yahoo.com.