Pacific Daily News from Agana Heights, Guam • Page A32

SPORTS guampdn.com Tuesday, August 7, 2012 32 on Guam LONDON My topsy-turvy day included surly, stoic security guards, a train station named Shadwell, finding dim sum on a street named Ping Pong next to London Bridge, fighting the lemmings and how I lost my wallet in a crowd yesterday. But fret. This story has a happy ending, thanks to a young man named Harry Gate. The real issue here is: Why did some ancient king living in the majestic Tower of London decide to name a nearby street Ping Pong? Let me first begin by admitting that I am often careless and absentminded surely not redeeming traits for a reporter with 25 years of experience. So when I got an invitation to have lunch with Team Guam, I suppose I could have inspected the text message closer and realized that Ping Pong was the name of a restaurant, not a street.

I suppose I sounded pretty dumb as I walked around the Tower of London, asking everyone I met if they knew where Ping Pong Street By Jojo Santo Tomas Pacific Daily News LONDON Runner Derek Mandell did everything right for the last four years to prepare for his 800-meter run yesterday at the 2012 London Olympics. He trained right, he ate right, he even slept right, said his coach, Brent Butler. He even started his race perfectly quick out of the gates and hitting the halfway point at about 54 seconds. At the 600-meter mark, Mandell was at 1 minute and 25 seconds, putting him right on track to break his personal best record of 1:56.10. just faded the last 200.

I run scared; I just finish the way I wanted said a disappointed Mandell, still catching his breath 20 minutes after his finish. wanted to finish where I had nothing left in the end and what I did. But I was just hoping for a faster time to come out of Mandell hide the disappointment, and the beads of sweat traced shiny paths down his frown lines. just get many opportunities to do your best on a big stage like this in front of so many he said. it is what it is, and I have to move forward from here.

no quitting from one bad race. I will keep training, stick to my game plan and hope for better performances down the The odds were stacked against Mandell from the start. Of the nine runners in his heat, Mandell was the only one with a personal best time in the The other eight runners hit times between 1:43 and 1:45, and the winner of his heat, Nijel Amos of Botswana, advanced to the semifinals with a time of 1:45.90. The world record is 1:41.01, seemingly far beyond sights down the road. The lead pack quickly outdistanced pace from the start and only extended the gap for the next two minutes.

Even the London sun, which was at least 10 degrees hotter than the chilly shade, made no difference. Mandell says heat matter for any race less than 1,500 meters. saw that he ran a good lap. what we were training for. It seemed like on the second lap, his turnover as said Butler.

he did leave it all on the track, and what we ex- Mandell fades down stretch Jojo Santo Daily Struggling: Derek Mandell heads down the stretch of his 800-meter heat Sunday at the 2012 London Olympics. Mandell finished last in his heat with a time of 1 minute and 58.94 seconds. MORE ONLINE For more updates, Jojo Santo Go London column and blog, and other Olympic news, photos and videos, go to www.Guam- PDN.com By Kolby Chang For Pacific Daily News Some of the best youth golfers took to the links against a field of competitors from Japan and Taiwan at the Fourth Annual BMW Guam USAJunior Open that ended Sunday at the LeoPalace Resort and Spa. The three-day tournament opened Friday and concluded with a dinner banquet Sunday at the Fiesta Resort Guam. Trophies were awarded to the top three finishers of each division at the banquet.

Tournament coordinator and Prestige intern Jennifer Shen said the junior open is held so young golfers can experience what playing in an international tournament is like. glad all the kids had a good time. We had a lot of determined players out she said in reference to the heavy rain that poured down on the island throughout the weekend. In the 7- to 8-year-old division, local golfer Brian Gogue claimed first place with a score of 211. In the 9- to 10-year-old division, Sh- ioriko Yokoyama owned the category with a total of 226.

Kyohei Hayashi, also of Japan, scored a 208 to conquer the Tzu-Yi Chang totaled 240 to top the in the 11- to 12-year-old division, while Aniceto Mandanas won the with a score of 222. Devin Hua defeated Teddy Gogue in a playoff after the standout Independent Interscholastic Athletic Association of Guam Golf League players battled to a tie in the 13- to 14-year-old division. Natathai Vongjalorn scored a 217 to win first place in the In the 15- to 18-year-old division, Reggie Camacho finished with 216 to reign supreme in the gory, and Kristen scored a 240 to best the Shen thanked Prestige Automobiles, First Hawaiian Bank, Deloitte, the Pacific Daily News, Sanford Technology Group, Guam Premium Outlets, Tan Holdings, and Guam Hardwood for sponsoring the tournament. BMW Guam USA Junior Open wraps up GOLF See Boy go Page 30 rough day ends well despite some deaf guards See Mandell Page 30.