Tinian paddlers top goodwill tourney anew

Tinian table tennis players reasserted their dominance in the sport last weekend, beating teams from neighboring Guam and Saipan to win the 9th Goodwill Table Tennis Tournament held at the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino.

Mark Ma and brothers Luke and Robin Lu—collectively known as Tinian A—lost only four games in 40 head-to-head matches against two teams from Saipan, Guam, and their sister team, Tinian B, en route to winning the team competition of the tournament last Saturday.

Tinian A started its campaign with a 9-0 sweep of Saipan B, which was made up of Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association president Steven Lim, Con Pobre, and Peter De Leon.

So overpowering was Tinian A that only two matches went four games, as Pobre managed to win one versus Luke Lu and amazingly also against Ma, who went on to win the singles championship.
It was a shaky campaign in the second round though for Tinian A as they surrendered two matches against Tinian B but nonetheless won in convincing fashion, 7-2.

Liang Wei Bin shocked Ma with an 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-9 victory and then Charlie Cheng got the better of Robin Lu in straight sets, 14-12, 11-6, 11-9. Bright Lu was the third member of the Tinian B team.

Hisamitsu Hamamoto, Carlos Gumataotao, and Edmund Ho of the Guam Amateur Table Tennis Association also didn’t had a chance against Tinian A in their match-up.

Ma and the Lu brothers gave Guam a rude welcome by winning 8-1, with the U.S. territory’s lone win courtesy of Hamamoto who beat Robin Lu, 4-11, 15-11, 11-1, 8-11, and 11-4.

It was the first time the southernmost chain of the Marianas joined the goodwill series.

Tinian A encountered its biggest challenge of the day when it tangled with fellow powerhouse Saipan A in what turned out to be the finals.

The climactic ending, however, was not to be as Tinian A quickly raced to a 5-0 lead. Luke Lu started things off with a sweep of Su Yong Dong, 12-10, 11-3, 11-7. Ma duplicated the feat by dominating 2006 Micronesian Games women’s gold medalist Jean Shi, 11-8, 11-8, 13-11. Robin Lu then made it three sweeps in a row by dumping Budhi Gurung, 11-4. 11-2, 11-8.

Ma had trouble against Su but won in four sets, 11-6, 11-6, 10-12, 11-5, while Gurung gave Luke Lu some fits, but won eventually lost, 9-11, 3-11, 11-5, 8-11.

Shi got Saipan belatedly going with a 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 win over Robin Lu. Saipan then proceeded to win two of the final three head-to-heads. Su beat Robin Lu, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, 11-4 and Shi discarded Luke Lu, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 12-10. Ma, meanwhile, beat Gurung, 5-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-4.

The 2-1 ending, however, only managed to make the final score a little more palatable: Tinian A over Saipan A, 6-3.

While Saipan A finished runner-up, Guam took third and Tinian B was fourth. Saipan B wound up in last place.

Paddlers from the CNMI’s gambling capital thus successfully defended the goodwill championship it won in April 2007 when only two teams representing Tinian and Saipan battled for the championship.

In the singles competition held the following day, Ma got the better of Shi in four sets, 12-10, 5-11, 11-8, 13-11. Su, meanwhile, salvaged third place with a 13-15, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 victory over Luke Lu.

In the doubles also held last Sunday, Ma and Liang teamed up to defeat Shi and Su, 7-12, 12-10, 11-4, 11-5. Luke and Robin Lu settled for third place.