MMA bouts spice up week

 With the 2011 Pacific Games already done, local MMB bouts through Trench Tech’s ROP 11: Onra provided the sports community the needed exciting competition last week.

Eighteen fights were shown in ROP: 11 at the Royal Taga Ballroom of the Saipan World Resort with Trench Tech fighters winning eight of them. Shane “Pikaboo” Alvarez gave fight fans the most thrilling finale when he outclassed Marianas Elite’s Derrick “El’Peligro” Rangamar in five grueling rounds.

Other Trench Tech bets who triumphed in ROP were Josh “Chaos” Duenas, Vince Masga, Walt “Silent Assault” Florencio, Frankie Ramangmao, Mark “The Dark” Nuique, Frank Muna, and Mylo “AlabaMMA” Lassiter.

In other notable events last week, members and officials of the CNMI Baseball Team returned to Saipan from New Caledonia with their gold medals; the Banzai Memorial Half Marathon run had new winners in its sixth edition; and on-going basketball and futsal leagues continued.

The CNMI Baseball Team was welcomed back by relatives and friends at the Saipan International Airport and manager Tony Rogolifoi said bringing home the gold medal proved that the Commonwealth is the best in baseball in the Pacific.

Mieko Carey and Keum Bae Ji joined the “best list” when they ruled the half marathon division in the Banzai run, while Chad Lowe topped the 8K race.

In basketball, the regular season of the masters division of the UFO Docomo Pacific Cup was completed with Cabalen/Wings Travel taking the No. 1 spot and gaining automatic semis seat. MDX/Armatech placed second, followed by VisMinda/PIAHI, MAFEA/RNV, and SWAFSO/Ebisuya. Later in the week, MDX joined Cabalen in the semis after beating SWAFSO/Ebisuya in the first playoff game.

In the youth division, MDX finished first, followed by Filcag/Rollers, SIP, AFP/Jets, and Samahang Laguna.

In the UFO Bud Cup, Cavite/Andok’s completed the playoff cast after eliminating MDX. Joining Cavite to the next round are Namfrel/Proa, UPAA Hoops, Cabalen/Noni, Bayani/Mobil, MAFEA/Ali’I Konflikt, and VisMinda/Satbahi.

In another playoff phase, Sherwin Williams knocked off Joeten Superstores in the Blue Haus caging.

Still in basketball, the Rotary league continued with its U15 and U19 games. Winning their U19 matches last week were the Sonics, Blazers, and Rollers 2, while Party Rockers, Rollers 670, and Proa prevailed in U15.

In futsal, Shirley’s A and IT&E Awesome boosted their title bids in the women’s division after separate wins last week, while Wild Bill’s swept the second round of the men’s category.

In badminton, the Shirley’s Classic continued with its elimination games.