The station’s tennis tournament kicked off at the tennis courts here Saturday with eight participants competing to be the best on the station.
Paul Roger ended his Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni career here on a high note going undefeated and winning the tournament along with the bragging rights of being the best on the station.
The tournament was double elimination which kicked off at 9 a.m. and played until a champion was crowned.
Roger said he has been playing tennis for about 15 years off and on and was out there just for some fun.
Roger’s second match was against Andre Bugawan, a 17-year old resident of the station who has been playing for about four years now.
It was a three set match where Bugawan fell short losing 6-1 then 6-2 to fall into the loser’s bracket.
After their match Roger said “Andre (Bugawan) is a skillful and talented player; he just beat himself.”
Due to it being a double elimination tournament Bugawan still had a chance to make a comeback and possibly have a chance at the title.
He went on to take the loser’s bracket and was ready to play the winner of the semi final for the winners’ bracket for the championship and the title.
Roger ended up winning the semi finals beating Rob Brown two out of three sets, losing the first 6-4, then coming back to win the next two 7-5 and 7-6.
The semi final match lasted nearly three hours leaving both competitors very exhausted.
“You never know the time of the sets,” said Curtis Brown, athletic director of Marine Corps Community Services, Iwakuni.
Bugawan, who had one loss going into the championship, knew he had no more chances for errors and had to play his best if he wanted to win the tournament.
Both competitors agreed to play one pro set for the title.
Bugawan looked as if he had the edge on Roger, controlling Roger across the court, making him run back and forth and work hard for his returns while he maintained his position near the net.
Roger didn’t seem to be bothered with falling behind early.
“I just stuck in there mentally, stayed positive and didn’t let stupid mistakes ruin my mindset,” said Roger.
His strategy paid off as he came back to win 8-6 and earned the first place trophy.