Su tops MATTA Saipan qualifier

Su Yong Dong defeated fellow Palau South Pacific Mini Games bronze medalist Chen Lin Ying in the finals to top the Saipan leg of the Micronesian Games qualifiers for the CNMI National Men’s Table Tennis Team.

Playing the championship round of the Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association-organized event Thursday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium multi-purpose room, Su won the best-of-seven match, 4-1, to avenge his first round loss to Chen and finish No. 1 in the depth chart.

Chen triumphed over Su earlier in the evening in their first round match-up, 3-1, to finish 5-0 in the eliminations, while Su settled for second place at 4-1.

The tables were turned in the finals, however, as Su came out smoking and took the initiative, giving up only a game and winning the match comfortably.

In the semifinals, Su swept longtime MATTA player Mario Espeleta, 4-0, while Chen edged Gurung in five competitive matches, 4-1.

Gurung and Espeleta make up the rest of the Top 4 of the Saipan leg of the trials with Gurung taking the third seed with his 3-2 record in the eliminations and Espeleta grabbing the fourth sport after finishing with a 2-3 mark.

The other two participants of the qualifying round—Con Pobre and Peter De Leon—came away with 1-4 and 0-5 records, respectively.

In a welcome development, MATTA also drew a number of women participants in its qualifier last week. Gurung, who is coordinator of the event, said they would be training the women for the next couple of weeks in hopes of having them ready for the Games.

Interim CNMI National Table Tennis team coach Steve Lim is expected to pick six men players and four women players to wear the CNMI’s colors in the 6th Micronesian Games set here on Saipan from June 23 to July 3.

The second leg of the tryouts for the national ping-pong team will continue on April 1 and 2, Saturday and Sunday, on Tinian.

MATTA earlier said the Tinian edition of the tryouts would coincide with MATTA’s biannual goodwill tournament with the table tennis club of Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino.

Like swimming, triathlon, baseball, and softball, table tennis is one of the sports the CNMI is expected to do well and medal in the Games.

In the 2005 South Pacific Mini Games in Palau, the team of Su, Chen, and Gurung—under the guidance of Lim—won a bronze medal in the team competition for table tennis.

The CNMI actually finished fourth behind powerhouses New Caledonia (Gold), Guam (Silver), Fiji (Bronze), but since the South Pacific Games Council awards two bronze medals—one for the third place team and a second to the fourth place teams—the CNMI was able to salvage bronze.