Dent Falls in First Round of Tournament

Taylor Dent, a 19-year-old from Newport Beach, lost to former UCLA star Eric Taino, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, Tuesday in the first round of the $25,000 USTA Men’s Challenger of Calabasas.

Dent, who has a career-high ranking of 163, has been playing mostly on the main ATP tour. His two most recent losses came to Andre Agassi at the Ericsson Open in Miami and Gustavo Kuerten at the Tennis Master Series in Indian Wells.

Taino, ranked 189, served for the match at 5-3 in the third set, but lost his serve after blowing three match points. Taino, 24, recovered to win the match by breaking Dent’s serve.

“I have a lot of respect for him,” Taino said. “He’s obviously an up-and-coming player. For me, it’s good because I feel I can play at that level.”

Dent is playing doubles with Kevin Kim, a former Sunny Hills High and UCLA star. Dent and Kim play Trent Aaron and Witold Cudny of the United States today in the first round. Kim, seeded fourth in the singles draw and ranked 131, won his first-round match Monday against Michael Joyce of Los Angeles, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Today, he will play Justin Bower of South Africa.

* Kim Nguyen of Saddleback High won her second consecutive girls’ 18 tournament by defeating Riza Zalameda of Beverly Hills, 6-3, 6-4, in the final of the Fullerton Junior event last weekend. In the boys’ 16 final, Troy sophomore Jeffrey Das lost to Jamil Al-Agba of Bremerton, Wash., 6-0, 6-4.

GOLF

Scott Stubbs, representing Anaheim Hills, and Hank Woodrome of Fullerton Municipal finished tied for seventh in the Southern California PGA Grand Slam Championship at the PGA of Southern California Golf Club in Calimesa. Barry Mahlberg and Scott Mahlberg of Stadium Golf Center in San Diego won the event and split $2,500.

BASEBALL

Valencia High’s Hector Ambriz, a two-time Orange League player of the year, will undergo an MRI Thursday to determine whether he will need season-ending surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee.

Ambriz, a junior who pitches and plays first base, suffered the injury March 28.

* Cal State Fullerton’s Jon Smith was selected Big West Conference pitcher of the week and Titan first baseman Aaron Rifkin shared player of the week honors with Long Beach State catcher Bryan Kennedy.

Smith (6-0) held Miami to seven hits and one run while striking out 11 in eight innings in the Titans’ victory Friday. Rifkin was seven for 17 (.412) with two homers and six runs batted in four games last week. Kennedy batted .533 last week with five RBIs.

BADMINTON

More than 80 athletes will participate in the 61st U.S. Adult National Badminton Championships Friday through Sunday at the Orange County Badminton Club in Orange.

National champion Alex Liang of Fountain Valley will compete in the men’s singles, and the women’s singles field will be led by Orange’s Meiluawati, the top-ranked U.S. player.

Times for the tournament are 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday with the finals Sunday beginning at 10 a.m. Admission is free.