Beling sweeps Cruz in men’s open finals

Luke Beling went unbeaten in the men’s open singles event of the 15th PIC Tennis Championships to clinch the division championship last Saturday at the Pacific Islands Club hard courts.

Luke Beling’s steps sideways to return a shot from Bobby Cruz during their title game in the men’s open singles division of the 15th PIC Tennis Championships last Saturday at the Pacific Islands Club hard courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Beling played three games in the men’s open singles and swept all his foes to defend the title he won against junior player Moris Villanueva last year, 6-4, 6-0. This season, Beling’s finals foe was Bobby Cruz and the former cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory last Saturday afternoon. Early in the morning, Beling also needed only two sets to beat doubles partner Peter Loken in the upper bracket semifinals, 6-2. 6-2.

The eventual champion advanced to the semis after a 6-0, 6-3 triumph over Dong Min Lee, a 6-4, 6-4 winner against junior player Robbie Schorr. Loken also downed a junior player in Colin Ramsey, 6-4, 6-3, to gain the other semis berth in the top half of the draw.

At the bottom half, Cruz marched into the semifinals after sweeping Daniel Park, 6-2, 6-2. Cruz faced Race in the semis and eked out a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win to arrange a finals date with Beling. Race earned the other semis seat in the lower bracket following a 6-2, 6-2 win against Luther Lizama.

Meanwhile, four more were crowned singles champions at the conclusion of the two-weekend tournament.

In the women’s open singles, junior player Carol Lee made it two in a row against Mikayla Lopez in the same tournament after notching a 6-1, 6-1 win in last Saturday’s title match. Lee also prevailed against Lopez in the girls U18 singles finale, 6-3, 6-4, in the opening week of the annual competition.

Lee barged into the finals after a 6-0, 6-0 crushing of Tania Tan, while Lopez also took only two sets to oust Malika Miyawaki in the other semis tiff, 6-0, 6-1.

In the women’s 3.0 singles finals, Asia Raulerson topped fellow junior player Susan Sablan, 6-1, 6-3.

In the men’s 3.0 singles, the championship went to Eric Abragan, who defeated Jose Jacinto in last Saturday’s title duel, 6-2, 7-5. Abragan earned a finals stint after a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Peter Deng, while Jacinto outclassed Brian Kim, 6-1, 6-0, in the other semis pairing.

In the men’s 4.0 singles Kumar Raj ruled the six-player field. He secured the division championship after slipping past Ryan Cho, 6-4, 6-3. Raj made it to the finals after a 6-2, 6-0 win over Gary Ramsey, a 6-0, 6-0 victory against June Keller. Cho entered the finals after a 6-1, 6-2 victory against junior player Seiya Eda.

Meanwhile, tournament organizers would like to thank PIC-Saipan, PTC (including Gatorade, Monster, and C2), Coral Ocean Point Golf Resort, Kanoa Resort, Sand Castle, and Sea Touch for supporting the competition.