Schorr tops U14 Circuit rankings; Miyawaki 2nd

The CNMI’s Robbie Schorr lorded it over in the boys division of the Pacific Oceania U14 Circuit, while Malika Miyawaki finished in the Top 3.

Schorr collected 5,500 points to take the top rankings in the boys division, besting 50 other players in the region. Points came from the eight tournaments hosted by Pacific Oceania nations from November last year to last month.

The 7th Annual Tan Holdings Tennis Classic was one of the competitions under the U14 Circuit with Schorr ruling the U14 singles after beating Ken Song in the finals. Schorr also won the doubles (with Ken Song) to gain 1,250 points.

Miyawaki duplicated Schorr’s feat after downing Conatsu Kaga in the U14 singles finale and teaming up with the latter in prevailing over Asia Raulerson and Maria Gregoire in the doubles title match.

The 14-year-old Schorr added more points to his credit in March this year when he defeated Song anew in the U14 finals in the Chamorro Open held in Guam. Miyawaki joined the same tournament and was stunned by Kaga in the championship game, but the former remained on top of the U14 Circuit, heading into last month’s 2016 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships held in Fiji.

Schorr went on to cap his outstanding run in the division after clinching both the singles and doubles crowns (with Song) in the POJC, while Miyawaki finished sixth in the girls singles and second (with Kaga) in the doubles to slide to second in the Pacific Oceania U14 Circuit.

Miyawaki earned 3,490 points to beat 31 other players in her field and finish second, just 10 points behind POJC champion Eleanor Schuster of Samoa.

The circuit was created to match up the neighboring countries and have them ran U14 events with ITF assisting players, financially, so they can compete in tournaments outside their turf. Players in the U12 age group are also allowed to join the U14 Circuit events to increase their competitive opportunities.

Once the calendar of events is completed, the top-ranked players will each receive a travel grant of $500, which they can use for 2016-2017 season.

The other tournaments under the U14 Circuit were the Vanuatu Regional Championships held in December; Easter Open in Fiji in April; West Pacific Regional Championships also in Fiji in May; North Pacific Regional Championships on Saipan in June; and the East Pacific Regional Championships in Samoa last month.

Meanwhile, three other CNMI players made it to the Top 10 of the boys division of the U14 Circuit with Song placing at No. 4 with his 2,580 points and Sean Lee (1,000) and Tony Kim (900) occupying the No.8 and 10 spots.

In the girls division, Kaga was ranked No. 4 with her 2,580 points, while Raulerson (2,100) and Gregoire (1,180) ended up in fifth and eighth place, respectively.