THE Fiji men’s tennis team went down fighting 2-1 to Cook Islands during the OTF Nations Cup Pacific quarter-finals at the Regional Tennis Centre in Lautoka. Raynal Singh gave Fiji the best start defeating Jason Pierre in the first singles tie 6-1, 6-0.
The second singles encounter between top seeds William O’Connell and Brett Baudinet went down to the wire with Baudinet winning 7-6, 7-6 forcing the doubles to be the decider.
Baudinet/Pierre defeated O’Connell/Singh 6-4, 7-6 in another tight contest to go through to the semi-finals.
The finals will begin at 8.30am today.
Results: Men’s Semi-finals: (Vanuatu 2 Cook Islands 0) Leniker (VAN) bt Jason Pierre (COK) 6-4, 6-1; Clement Mainguy (VAN) bt Brett Baudinet (COK) 6-0, 6-2. (Tahiti 2 Solomon Islands 0) Heve Kelley (TAH) bt Junior Benjamin (SOL) 6-1, 6-0; Angelo Yersin (TAH) bt Graham Mani (SOL) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2. Men’s Quarter-finals: (Cook Islands 2 Fiji 1) Brett Baudinet (COK) bt William O’Connell (FJ) 7-6, 7-6; Raynal Singh (FJ) bt Jason Pierre (COK) 6-1, 6-0; Brett Baudinet/ Jason Pierre (COK) bt William O’Connell/ Raynal Singh (FJ) 6-4, 7-6. (Solomon Islands 2 Kiribati 0) Junior Benjamin (SOL) bt Bira Tebatibunga (KIR) 6-2, 6-2; Graham Mani (SOL) bt Kourabi Benjamin (KIR) 6-1, 6-0. (Vanuatu 2 Oceania Combined 0) Clement Mainguy (VAU) bt Matthew Stubbings (Oceania) 6-2, 6-4; Thomas Leniker (VAU) bt Sam Cribb (Oceania) 6-1, 6-0. (Tahiti 2 Samoa 0) Kelley Heve (TAH) bt Marvin Soonalole (SAM) 6-1, 6-2; Angelo Yersin (TAH) bt Leon Soonalole (SAM) 3-6, 7-5, 7-6. Men’s Playoffs 9th-14th Place: (American Samoa 2 Fiji 0) Larry Magalasin (ASA) bt Sebastian Tikaram (FJ DEV) 6-1, 6-1; Jummah Viga (ASA) bt Sumeet Lal (FJ DEV) 6-3, 6-2. (Tonga 1 Federated State of Micronesia 0) Filipe Huni (TGA) bt Jones George (FSM) 6-1, 6-2; Siale Fatai (TGA) bt Deavyn Etsheit (FSM) 6-3, 6-3. Women’s 1st-6th Playoff: (Oceania Combined 2 Solomon Islands 0) Patricia Apisah (Oceania) bt Zorika Morgan (SOL) 6-1, 6-2; Alesi Molotii (Oceania) bt Prudence Bird (SOL) 3-6, 7-5, 7-6. (Cook Islands 2 Vanuatu 1) Rosalie Molabaleh (VAN) bt Brittany Teei (COK) 7-5, 7-6; Tamara Anderson (COK) bt Marie Liwuslili (VAN) 6-1, 6-0; Tamara Anderson/ Brittany Teei (COK) bt Rosalie Molabaleh/Marie Liwuslili (VAN) 6-4, 6-3. Women’s 7th-11th Playoffs: (Fiji 2 Federated States of Micronesia 0) Ruby Coffin (FJ) bt Anne Skilling (FSM) 6-3, 6-2; Kajol Chand (FJ) bt Ridianne Wolphagen (FSM) 6-3, 6-3.
