CNMI jr. players off to strong start

The CNMI Junior Tennis Team put on a strong showing in the opening day of the ITF North Pacific Regional Championships 2015.

Defending U14 singles champion and top seed Tania Tan led the Commonwealth’s impressive performance in yesterday’s opener as she blanked Guam’s Alyssa Merletti, 6-0, 6-0, on Court 2 of the Rick Ninete Tennis Center in Hagatna.

Tan is in Pool A of her division and is joined by teammate and No. 4 seed Asia Raulerson, who also took only two sets to win her opening day match against the Federated States of Micronesia’s Tatiana Panuelo, 6-0, 6-1.

The CNMI made it a 4-0 in the girls U14 singles, as the second-ranked Malika Miyawaki and third-seeded Mimi Sakano also prevailed in their first matches in Pool B. Miyawaki dominated FSM’s Isabel Garcia, 6-1, 6-1, while Sakano also pounded Guam’s Jocelyn Tenai, 6-0, 6-0.

Vincent Tudela goes for a backhand return to Isabel Heras during a scrimmage last Thursday at the Pacific Islands Club tennis court. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

In other results in the girls singles, the CNMI got a 3-1 record in the U12 division. In Pool A, Conatsu Kaga and Erika Tuttle swept their respective foes with the former whipping FSM’s Paris Panuelo, 6-0, 6-0, and the latter crushing another FSM bet in Chelsea Panuelo, 6-1, 6-0. Conatsu’s younger sister Coume gave the Commonwealth bets their third win in the division after beating Guam’s Kaia Malakooti, 6-0, 6-0. Maria Gregoire completes the CNMI girls U12 team and dropped a tough game against the No. 1-ranked Anne Skilling of FSM, 5-7, 3-6.

In the girls U14 singles, Isabel Heras and Ami Tsukagoshi both took the short route to victories in Day 1. The top-ranked Heras hammered Guam’s Nozomi Yamasawa, 6-1, 6-0, in Pool A, while the second-seeded Tsukagoshi outclassed FSM’s Chriselda Esau, 6-2, 6-4, In Pool B.

In the boys division, the debuting Seung Jin Paik had the most impressive record in Day 1, going 2-0 in Pool B of the U12 division. He got his first win over FSM’s Deavyn Etscheit, 6-1, 6-2, and followed with up with an equally-notable 6-1, 6-0 triumph over Palau’s Jonah Tilei Ziegler. Ji Min Woo joined Paik in Pool B and also needed only two sets to down Guam’s Dakota Gibson, 6-2, 6-2.

In Pool A, Rintaro Miyawaki had a split, losing first to top seed Andrew Leng of Guam, 0-6, 0-6, before bouncing back with a win against teammate and fourth-ranked Sean Lee, 6-4, 6-3. Lee went 0-2 in Day 1 as he earlier fell to FSM’s Jerson Freddy, 4-6, 6-2, 10-7.

In the boys U14 singles, top-ranked Robbie Schorr, Ken Song, and Vincent Tudela won their opening games. Schorr was pitted against fellow CNMI player Haruya Eda in Pool A and bagged a 6-1, 6-2 win, while Song and Tudela defeated teammate Steven Goodwin, 6-4, 6-0, and Guam’s Aaron Abrams, 6-0, 6-1, respectively. Goodwin absorbed his second loss in Pool C after bowing to FSM’s Sterkis Abraham, 4-6, 5-7.