Fiji stint warms up Minor for New Caledonia tournaments

CNMI Junior Team coach Jeff Race is expecting Thea Minor to be in tip-top shape when she competes in New Caledonia next month after battling the Pacific’s best in Fiji for about two weeks.

“The tough games she played in Fiji will benefit her when she plays in New Caledonia in September,” Race said in a telephone interview with the Saipan Tribune.

Race returned on Saipan with Mayuko Arriola, Christian Miller, Dina Jones, and Rafael Jones Monday morning, leaving Minor and Ji Hoon Heo at the Robin Mitchell Regional Training Centre in Lautoka to prepare for separate tournaments.

Minor will be competing in two tournaments in New Caledonia, along with five other players from the Pacific, while Heo is bound for Japan.

Before the events in the French colony, Minor played in two tournaments in Fiji, namely the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships and the Oceania Plate.

The Grace Christian Academy student placed third in the girls’ 13-and-under division of the POJC and finished third in Pool A of the Girls’ Senior division in the Oceania Plate battling older and taller players.

“I was hoping that Thea will finish second, if not first, in the PJOC. But she had an off day in the playoffs when she played Fiji’s Annie Shannon,” Race said. “In the Oceania Plate, she failed to make it to the semifinals, but she played tough matches, almost pulling off victories against her much favored opponents.”

“These tough and intense games are what she needs to have a good showing in New Caledonia, where she will up against much stronger players,” the CNMI coach added.

According to the website of New Caledonia’s tennis association, Ligue Caledonienne de Tennis, Minor and the five other Pacific netters will compete in the “Games Interprovinciaux.”

The tournament will feature junior players from New Caledonia’s three provinces, which are represented by three associations, namely North of the Province Tennis, South of the Province Tennis and the Provincial Islands Tennis. The provincial event will run from Sept. 8-12 and will be held in We Lifou in the Provincial Islands

While waiting for the tournament in New Caledonia, Minor will continue training in Fiji. She will also spend a one-week training session with New Caledonia tennis technical director Gerard Winter.

“The training in New Caledonia is more intense that the one in RTC in Fiji. Players there train three times a day. It will be a great experience for Thea,” Race said.

According to Race, the first training session in New Caledonia starts as early as 5 a.m. or before players go to school. After lunch break, players return to the training center for the second session and report for the third session of the day after school.

“I believe Thea will be in her peak when she plays against New Caledonia’s best junior players because of the intense training in New Caledonia and the tough matches she went through in Fiji,” Race said.

The tournament in New Caledonia will be Minor’s third off-island event since competing in New Zealand in December last year.