Nine-year-old helps Eagles climb ladder in Lae comp

By LARRY ANDREW
NINE-YEAR-OLD Dang Dang Monmai kept his nerve when he partnered with Willie Tiki to win the open doubles frame and help Gamoga Lawyers Legal Eagles beat Lae Auto Clinic 4-3 in the Mt Golpu Lae Corporate Eight-ball Competition on Saturday.
It was a miserable day for third-placed Lae Auto Clinic as they suffered losses to ladder leaders Kuima Security, Andersons and Eagles.
The win saw Eagles leapfrog Guard Dog Security, Golpu Two and Lae Auto Clinic into third spot on ladder.
With Eagles’ Harold Solomon winning the opening frame of the game in the men’s singles match against Lae Auto Clinic’s Jonathan Cavanagh, the onus was on Linda Wiput to win the women’s singles.
The women’s singles was in the balance but Lae Auto Clinic’s Philomena Kinsim could not make the most of her opportunities, allowing Wiput to win the frame and give Eagles a 2-0 lead.
The third frame — men’s singles — saw Lae Auto Clinic’s Manlee Vali on the verge of victory with just the black ball while Eagle’s David Ben had seven balls.
However, Vali’s miscalculation proved costly as Ben fought back from seven balls pull the win out of the fire and push Eagles to a 3-0 lead.
Eagles had only one frame to wrap up the game as Mario Arsua faced Lae Auto Clinic’s Bernard Vevera in the open singles.
But Vevera kept his team in the contest by leaving Arsua with three balls on the table.
Eagles had another shot to wrap up the game in the mixed open division frame as Wiput and Leslie Tau went up against Cavanagh and Kinsim.
However, unforced errors saw Lae Auto Clinic win the frame to close the gap to 2-3.
Eagles were determined to win the sixth frame and prevent the game from going into the decider as Monmai and Tiki went up against Vevera and Vali.
Lae Auto Clinic gave away unwanted free shots before Central and Milne Bay native Monmai kept his cool to pot the black ball, leaving the opponents with three balls on the table and giving Eagles a morale-boosting win.