3 junior netters stay alive

Seung Jin Paik chases down the ball during his boys U14 singles game against Sean Lee in last month’s TanHoldings Tennis Classic at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan. (Contributed Photo)

Three CNMI players are still in contention in the 2017 Margaret Court Cup in Australia.

Malika Miyawaki moved into the third round of the girls U14 singles after winning her opening match last Friday at the Albury Grasscourts in Albury, New South Wales, while the pair of Seung Jin Paik and Ji Min Woo are in the quarterfinals of the boys U12 doubles event.

Paik and Woo swept Australia’s Jay Coxon and Spencer Finch last Saturday, 6-1, 6-1, to advance to the second round where they were pitted against another Land Down Under pair—Jeorge Collins and Isaac King. The two Commonwealth players went on to pull off an upset over their seventh-seeded foes, 6-3, 6-1, to gain a quarterfinal entry.

In the Round of 8, Woo and Paik will have an even tougher assignment as they face the top-ranked pair of Charlis Camus and Cooper Glen Wilkenson today. The No. 1 seeded team drew a bye in the first round before downing Joshua Goodland and Lachlan Wei in the second, 7-5, 6-0, to barge into the quarterfinals of the boys U12 doubles.

In the boys U12 singles, Woo had an impressive showing in the first round before missing a seat to the second. The Grace Christian Academy student shut down Australia’s Zachary David Reid in their opening match, 6-0, 6-0. Woo was then paired against the No. 3 seed Wilkinson, who eliminated the CNMI bet following a 6-2, 6-2 victory in the second round. Paik also got the boot in the boys U12 singles after bowing to the No. 12 Maxwell Priest, 3-6, 4-6.

In the girls U14 singles, Miyawaki will try to gain a quarterfinals slot when she challenges No. 1 seed Chiara Di Tommaso of Australia. The Commonwealth player earned the right to face Di Tommaso in Round 3 after getting a bye in the first round and registering a tough win against Chelsea Mgrath in the second round. Miyawaki won the extended opening set, 7-5, but missed a sweep when her Aussie foe took the second, 6-4. However, Miyawaki regained her bearings in the super-tiebreaker third set and closed out strong, 10-5, to remain in contention in singles play.

In the doubles, Miyawaki and her fellow CNMI bets Conatsu and Coume Kaga are out of the race.

Miyawaki teamed up with Vanuatu’s Rosalie Molbaleh and they won over Australia’s Chloe Anne Brereton and Cassie Pleming, 6-1, 6-4, to book a quarterfinal ticket. However, the two Pacific Oceania Touring Team members faltered in their semis bid when they lost to the No. 1 pair of Leacy Argent and Zoey Daggmarr in a closely fought match, 6-4, 3-6, 9-11.

The Kaga sisters also prevailed in their opening games before missing the Final Four trip. Conatsu was paired with Emily Beetson and they topped Natasha Phillips-Edgar and Mia Savio, 7-5, 6-7, 10-3, before being beaten by No. 1 seed Tamara Bajagic and Chloe Green, 2-6, 0-6. Coume, on the other hand, joined forces with Elisa Townsend and they swept Roxanne Lilico and Lauren Milosis, 6-3, 6-3. Coume and her partner, unfortunately, bowed to another seeded duo—No. 4 Brienna Collins and Erica Reneee Samacki—in the quarterfinals, 4-6, 4-6.

In other results, Ken Song survived his opening match in the boys U14 singles after dominating Lukas Evans, 6-0, 6-1. Song made it to Round 3 after his straight sets victory, but got eliminated last Saturday when he lost to No. 1 seed Cooper Griffiths, 1-6, 1-6. In the doubles, Song and his partner Avikash Kumar of Fiji dropped their opener against No. 8 seed Sam Kim and Neel Mohan, 3-6, 3-6.