Woo wins another faceoff with Paik

Ji Min Woo makes a backhand slice during his semis game against Daniel Kang in the 16th PIC Tennis Championships last weekend at the Pacific Islands Club courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Ji Min Woo reasserted his mastery over Seung Jin Paik, winning against his perennial rival twice in the opening week of the 16th PIC Tennis Championships.

Woo defeated Paik both in the boys U12 and U14 singles title matches last Sunday at the Pacific Islands Club hard courts.

The eventual champion first dueled Paik in the boys U12 singles finale and cruised to a 6-3, 6-0 victory in their morning match. The two-set triumph was Woo’s third consecutive straight set win in the division as he earlier downed Seung Won Lee, 6-0, 6-1, and Daniel Kang, 6-0, 6-2, to set a finals date with Paik. Lee and Kang, before losing to Woo, prevailed over Min Gi Jung, 6-2, 7-5, and Seung Hyun Kim, 6-0, 6-1, at the upper half of the draw.

At the lower half, Paik eliminated Rintaro Miyawaki, 6-1, 6-3, and Richard Steele, 6-4, 6-0, to arrange another title tiff against Woo. Miyawaki advanced against Paik following a 6-0, 6-1 win over Isaac Heo, while Steele, who won the same age group crown in the 2016 White Coconut Tennis Classic early this month, marched into the semis after ousting Anthony Gregoire, 6-4, 6-0. Gregoire challenged Steele in the quarterfinals after slipping past Andrew Chung, 2-6, 6-1, 10-5.

In the boys U14 singles finale, Wook and Paik collided in the afternoon match with the former picking up where he left off to record a 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 win. Again, Woo moved into the finals after beating Kang in the semis, 6-0, 6-0, while Paik took the long route to the title match as he pulled off a 6-4, 4-6, 10-4 super tiebreaker third set victory against Sean Lee.

Kang and Lee earned the right to face the Top 2 seeds in the boys U14 singles after blanking Kichang Jeoung and Daniel Heo, respectively, while Paik made it to the semis following a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Go Sekiguchi. Woo automatically marched into the Final Four after getting a bye in the opening day.

Woo’s twin wins against Paik in Week 1 of the PIC tournament was his third and fourth against Paik in the 2015-2016 season. His string of victories started last November when he won the boys U12 title in the 7th Tan Holdings Tennis Classic. Woo’s second title at the expense of Paik came less than two weeks ago when the former swept Paik, 6-3, 6-2, in the boys U14 singles finals of the 2016 White Coconut Tennis Classic.

The victory in the PIC event also allowed Woo to bag the division championship that got away from his hands last year. He lost in three sets to Aditya Rai in the same tournament in 2015, 6-7, 6-4, 0-6.

Meanwhile, Robbie Schorr also redeemed himself from an earlier defeat when he ruled the boys U16 singles division of last weekend’s competition.

Schorr, who fell to Moris Villanueva in the same age group contest in the 2016 White Coconut Tennis Classic, stunned the top-ranked Michael Ren in the finals, 6-4, 6-1, for his first U16 singles championship. Schorr advanced into the title match after sweeping Vincent Tudela, 6-2, 6-1, in the lower bracket semis, while Ren survived Tony Kim in the upper bracket semis, 7-5, 1-6, 10-2. Kim and Tudela made it to the semifinals after knocking off Steven Goodwin, 6-2, 6-2, and Ken Song, 1-6, 7-6, 10-3, respectively.