Ji Hoon upbeat about POJC

CNMI tennis wunderkind Ji Hoon Heo likes his chances in the 2008 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships set from Aug. 13 to 17 at the Dr. Robin Mitchell Tennis Centre in Lautoka, Fiji.

In an email to the Saipan Tribune, the Marianas High School student said he is looking forward to challenging for the top spot in the event that saw him finish runner-up last year in the boys’ 18-and-under competition.

“The Pacific Oceania Junior Championships is going to be fun and I think I have a great chance to finish first. I finished second last year. It’ll be tough to beat my doubles partner from New Caledonia, though,” he said.

Aside from the French player, Heo also looks at Fiji’s William O’ Connell, Vanuatu’s Lorenzo Pineda, and Solomon Islands’ Duncan Maetoloa as his other main rivals in the boys’ 18-and-under age group.

“Those three are the hard ones to beat but they are all beatable.”

While Heo’s confidence appears intact three weeks before the start of the Championships, his body is not as the ankle injury he sustained during last month’s BNP Paribas de Nouvelle Caledonie tournament in Noumea has not completely healed.

“My ankle is still bad. It is about 75 percent. But I got back to practicing yesterday (Tuesday) but I am still a bit rusty.”

Heo warmed up for the 2008 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships by taking part in the International Tennis Federation-sanctioned events—the aforementioned BNP Paribas de Nouvelle Caledonie tournament and the 2008 Air Pacific South Pacific Open Junior Championships.

Heo and his partner, O’Conner, reached the third round of the Air Pacific South Pacific Open Junior Championships before losing to the vaunted pair of Sam Barr and Stuard Robertson—both of New Zealand—in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5.

Playing with Pineda, Heo meanwhile barged into the quarterfinals of the 2008 Open Junior BNP Paribas de Nouvelle Caledonie tournament. The feat, coupled with a similar success in the singles, allowed Heo to finally get his ITF points and currently he is ranked 1,425 in the list.

Last year in the 2007 Pacific-Oceania Junior Championships, Heo lost to Daneric Hazelman of Fiji in two highly competitive sets in the boys’ 18-and-division finals, 7-6 (9), 6-2.

CNMI bets James Camacho, Mayuko Arriola, Dina Jones, Christian Miller, Rafael Jones, and Thea Minor will also join Heo in Lautoka after finishing among the Top 3 in the North Pacific Qualifier held last June at the Rick Ninete Tennis Center in Tamuning, Guam.