Lee still in contention in Fiji

Carol Lee, seen here stretching for a return in a local tournament, is in the quarterfinals of both the singles and doubles events in the 2016 Oceania Open Junior Championships in Fiji. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

It was a good Wednesday for the CNMI’s Carol Lee as she won both her Round of 16 matches in the 2016 Oceania Open Junior Championships in Fiji.

The fourth-ranked Lee first prevailed in the singles event against Japan’s Yuna Ukita in their morning match, getting the victory after only two sets. Thought she swept her No. 14 seed opponent, Lee had a tough time against Ukita in the opening set, pulling off a 7-5 win. In the second set, Lee dictated the tempo of the match early for an emphatic 6-0 triumph.

With the win, Lee advanced to the quarterfinals against another Japanese player in Yuna Ohashi, who eliminated her compatriot and wild card entry Hiroka Furuya, 6-2, 6-2, in the second match in the lower half of the bracket.

In the two other games in Lee’s group, the winners were Australia’s Madison Bishop and Japan’s Misaki Kobayashi. The No. 6 seed Bishop downed New Zealand’s Janvhi Clark, 6-4, 6-2, to set up a quarterfinal tiff against Kobayas, who pulled off an upset against the second-ranked Claudia Ng of Hong Kong, 6-3, 6-2.

Completing the quarterfinals cast were upper bracket Round of 16 winners Kaitlin Staines of Australia, New Zealand’s Stella Cliffe, the U.S’ Sara Tsukamoto, and Japan’s Marie Shindo. Staines won over Hong Kong’s Sophie Leong, 6-0, 6-3, to arrange a Round of 8 meeting with Cliffee, a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Palau’s Ayana Rengiil. Tsukamoto also earned a straight set win versus Hong Kong’s Wing Sze Yu, 6-2, 6-2, for a quarterfinal duel against Shindo, who knocked off compatriot Akane Koizumi, 6-4, 6-1.

In the doubles, Lee and Rengiil, whore are seeded second in the competition, swept the Solomon Island’s Georjemah Row and Vinda Teally, 6-1, 6-3, to march into the quarterfinals against Australia’s Roopa Bans and Luciana Kunkel. The Aussie pair won over Japan’s Amu Tsukada and Miu Yabuta, 7-5, 6-4, and Hong Kong’s Skylar Wang and Alicia Yue, 6-2, 6-4, to book a Round of 8 ticket.

Lee’s fellow CNMI player—Isabel Heras—missed a quarterfinal berth after she and Bryn Johnson of the U.S. bowed to Kobayashi and Singapore’s Maxine Ng, 5-7, 2-6. Before the loss, Heras and Johnson prevailed in their opening game against Japan’s Sachiho Sho and Kaeda Tada, 6-2, 6-2.

The third CNMI bet in the doubles contest—Tania Tan—teamed up with Singapore’s Julia Barden and they fell to Ohashi and Ukita, 1-6, 0-6.