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Air Pacific Fiji Open 2008
The grass and synthetic grass courts of the Denarau Golf and Racquets Club were the venue for some great tennis as players from across Oceania battled for titles in a wide range of events at the end of May. Details of the event winners and runners-up can be found in the senior section under South Pacific Games.
Top seed Mark Shanahan (AUS) cruised through the mens open singles draw beating Finau Fa (FIJ) in the quarters, Paddy Landy in the semis and then Vanuatu 18 year old Lorenz Pineda 62 62 in the final. Shanahan then combined with Ian Honila (SOL) to win a thrilling mens doubles over Talor Wain and Paddy Landy 64 46 63. The finalists are pictured below.
In the women's singles final Alice Pigram beat promising Fiji player Akanesi Fa 64 61.
Prominent world seniors tennis player Allan Chester, from New Zealand returned to the Fiji Open again (we have lost count of how many times he has played!!) and won his age group singles and doubles. Allan and mate Bobby are pictured below.
The mixed doubles was a triumph for players from the South Island with Queenstown's Felicity Oxnevad combining with former Canterbury rep Peter Hampton to beat Alice Pigram and Talor Wain 61 63.
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Leong Stops Samoa and New Caledonia Gold Domination
Solomon Islander Michael Leong won his first Games gold medal when he took out the men's singles 61 61 over Samoa's Juan Langton. Although backed by a large home crowd Langton was no match for his Pacific Oceania Davis Cup teammate as Leong relished the court and conditions where he won two memorable matches against Pakistan earlier in the year. In the bronze medal playoff Julien Couly won over fellow New Caledonia player Nikolas N'Godrela 61 61 ensuring the medals were spread around.
New Caledonia dominated the women's singles after the top seed Tagifano So'onalole was eliminated early on with their number one player Elodie Dietrich-Rogge winning 61 63. The bronze playoff featured two young players vieing for their first Games medal. After a tough first set Abigail Tere-Apisah (PNG) came through 75 63 over Selima Taufa from Tonga.
In contrast to the quick and largely oe-sided singles finals, the doubles produced all the thrills and close matches. Winning the first set was no guarantee of victory and in three medal matches pairs came from behind for victory. In the men's doubles final Gabriel Ledru and Juan Langton (pictured below) squared off against each other with Ledru and partner Nikolas N'Godrela eventually triumphing over Langton and Leon So'onalole 46 63 64. The playoff for bronze was an all Tahiti affair which also went right to the wire before Bruno Laitane and Lundry Lee Than claimed bronze over Patrice Cotti and Raiarii Yan 16 64 64.
Star pairing from the teams event, Maylani Ah Hoy and Tagifano So'onalole withstood a first set onslaught from surprise finalists Abigail tere-Apisah and Nicole Angat from PNG before winning in three sets to claim women's doubles gold. American Samoa and Guam featured in the bronze playoff with the American Samoa pair of Saloni Pita and Florence Wasko outlasting Guam's pairing of Michelle Pang and Yumika Sugahara 62 76(4)
The mixed doubles saw Samoa and maylani Ah Hoy claim their second gold of the day as Maylani and Juan Langton won yet another three setter over Godrela and Dilucco 75 36 63. New Caledonia beat Tahiti for the bronze medal with Ledru and Dietrich easily beating Raiarii Yan and Cathy Yan 62 62.
Pacific Oceania Davis Cup 2007 - Day 3 Triumph
Pacific Oceania turned the tables on Pakistan on day three winning both reverse singles in three straight sets to win the tie 3-2.
Michael Leong took on Aqeel Khan in the battle of the number one players in the first match on the final day of the Davis Cup tie between Pacific Oceania and Pakistan. With the Pacific team trailing 1-2 it was a must win match for them if they were to keep their hopes of winning the tie alive.
Leong began strongly breaking serve early and ran away with the first set 6-1, moving the Pakistan player around the court to expose his forehand and force a string of errors. In the second set Michael was aggressive approaching the net a number of times to finish points and late in the set hit several passing shots clinching the set 6-2.
After Aqeel Khan had taken a medical timeout he returned to the court looking very tired and despite a valiant effort to lift his game was unable to stop Leong who was relentless, breaking serve early and then again at the end of the set to claim it 6-2 and the match, levelling the tie at two rubbers all. For Leong the win was a triumph against a well performed international player and in his two matches the Solomon Islander only conceded 10 games underlining his dominance of the tie.
With Juan Langton’s ankle still bothering him West Nott was chosen to play the deciding rubber for Pacific Oceania. The Marshall Islands player was the ultimate in consistency from the start and never let his lacklustre opponent into the match conceding only one game in three sets winning 6-1 6-0 6-0
Pacific Oceania have now completed their program for 2007 and will again contest Group 2 in 2008. Michael Leong through winning his two matches in this tie extended his winning record in home ties to six from six in the three home ties played in the past three years.
Full results:
Aqeel Khan beat Juan Langton 6-3 6-3 2-6 6-2
Michael Leong beat Jalil Khan 6-1 6-1 6-1
A and S Khan beat W Nott and B Baudinet 5-7 7-6(6) 6-7(5) 7-5 6-3
Michael Leong beat Aqeel Khan 6-1 6-2 6-2
West Nott beat Jalil Khan 6-1 6-0 6-0
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