Guam tennis wins Pac Games gold | Guam Sports | postguam.com – The Guam Daily Post

After a gutty performance Monday at the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands, where unseeded Team Guam’s men’s tennis team defeated Papua New Guinea and Fiji, Guam played Tahiti for gold on Tuesday.

The day started with a big No. 2 singles victory from Guam’s Danny Llarenas, who defeated Tahiti’s Heimanarii Lai San in straight sets 7-6(7), 6-2. With one match in the bag and Guam’s No. 1 singles player, Camden Camacho, playing some of the best tennis of his life, the Guamanian served Tahiti’s Heve Kelley a first-set bagel but lost the match 0-6, 6-2, 6-0.

“I played hard in singles but didn’t come out with the win,” Camacho said. “First set, I was on fire and hitting crazy shots because I felt my strokes. Second set was where my opponent started to feel his shots, and I was losing the focus from first set. Third set, my opponent barely missed and was playing very well, so I give props to him.”

After splitting the singles matches in the gold medal match against Tahiti, it all came down to doubles.

After the singles matches and a 90-minute break, Llarenas and Camacho were scheduled to take on Reynald Taaroa and Antoine Voisin, but Team Guam head coach Christian Penafiel swapped out Camacho for Mason Caldwell. Caldwell and Llarenas won the match 6-4, 6-4 and claimed the gold medal for Guam – its first tennis medal in the history of the Pac Games.

“Mason stepped up so big for us and played extremely composed,” Llarenas said. “We were just taking in the moment and enjoying all of it during the match.”

Penafiel said that replacing Camacho was a “tough decision” but a necessary one.

“I spoke with the team and to Camden on how he physically felt after his three-set match, and he said he wasn’t feeling 100%,” Penafiel said. “So that kind of made my decision a little easier. Either way, I trust my players, and they delivered and fought hard until the end.”

Llarenas, still in disbelief that they pulled off the unprecedented win, said winning the gold was “unbelievable.”

“I’m so grateful to do it with this team and share this win with Guam tennis,” he said. 

Llarenas, who has recently experienced tremendous loss, told The Guam Daily Post that winning the gold medal was so special.

“My mom passed away this summer and my dad, who is from Guam, passed away a year and a half ago,” he said. “So, winning this to represent Guam and my Guam family means so much to me.”

Guam National Tennis Federation President Torgun Smith called winning the gold an “amazing team effort.”

“I am getting messages from all over the Pacific, congratulating our team,” Smith said. “I can’t describe how proud I am of this team – from unseeded to gold!”

Smith congratulated his first-time Pac Games coach for leading Guam to gold.

“He was on court every match and made lineup decisions along the way,” Smith said. “Great wins.”

“This win will show the direction we are moving is positive,” added Smith. “I hope it will draw more U10 kids to tennis to one day represent Guam in international competition.”

An emotional Penafiel told the Post that winning the gold is “definitely a good feeling,” but he “still needs to process what just had happened.”

Camacho said, “It’s crazy being a gold medalist.”

“Shows our hard work pays off,” he added.