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Unbeaten pairs clinch Marianas Cup
Two pairs went unbeaten to clinch their respective division titles in the Pro-Am event of the 23rd Annual Marianas Cup Festival held over the weekend at the Ypao Beach in Guam.
Japan’s Erika Habaguchi goes for a dig while China’s Rongrong Shen, left, and Mengtong Wang look on in their exhibition game in the 23rd Annual Marianas Cup Festival in Guam. Habaguchi and partner Summer Miyagawa defeated Shen and Wang. (Marianas Cup)
Saipan’s Tyler Willsey teamed up with Japanese pro Takashi Tsuchiya to rule the men’s division, while Guam’s Tatiana Sablan joined Spain’s Anna Vidal in clinching the women’s crown.
Willsey and Tsuchiya defeated Saipan’s Russ Quinn and partner Kosuke Sato in the finals, 21-19, for their fifth straight win in the Pro-Am event of the annual tournament that will be hosted by Saipan next year.
It was the second win for Willsey and Tsuchiya over the Quinn-Sato pair as they also scored a 21-18 decision in the early rounds.
Willsey and Tsuchiya also defeated Jeff Carlucci and Brandon Chance, 21-14; Guam’s Luis Mensgon Jr. and P.J. Quintanilla, 21-15; and Jeff Santos Thomas and Guang Song, 21-5.
Quinn and Sato, who dropped to the loser’s bracket, faced Carlucci and Chance in the knockout semis with the second finals berth at stake. The Saipan-Japan pairing, up 8-4 in the match, moved on to the finals after Carlucci and Chance had to forfeit due to injury.
It was also the same story in the women’s side with Sablan and Vidal cruising their way to the finals with wins over Maria K. Wahl and Andrea Hershberger, 21-9; Diana Carlos and Summer Miyagawa, 21-14; Japanese pair Nozomi Yanagi and Anna Miyakawa, 21-17.
Sablan and Vidal clinched the first finals berth after a 21-17 decision over Kendra Byrd and Erika Habaguchi.
The Yanagi-Miyakawa and Byrd-Habaguchi pairs then faced off in the semis with the right of facing Sablan and Vidal at stake. The former earned the chance of facing the undefeated pair in the finals after a 21-18 win.
Sablan and Vidal, however, foiled Yanagi and Miyakawa’s upset bid and scored a 21-18 triumph to complete their unbeaten run.
