Coume conquers foe in finals

Coume Kaga, seen here serving during last year’s North Pacific Regional Championships at the Pacific Islands Club hard courts, won the consolation draw in the girls U14 in the 2017 Victorian Junior Grasscourt Championships in Australia last Saturday. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Come Kaga made sure she won’t leave Australia empty-handed after bagging the championship in the consolation group of the girls U14 singles event in the 2017 Victorian Junior Grasscourt Championships.

Coume duplicated her sister’s feat after beating Iva Pandurevic in the finals, 6-1, 6-3, last Saturday at the Wodonga Tennis Centre in Wodonga, Victoria. Coume’s sibling, Conatsu, earlier topped the consolation draw of the 2017 Margaret Court Cup held in Albury, New South Wales.

The Kaga siblings both saw action in the 32-player main draw of the girls U14 singles with Coume winning her first round match after sweeping Lauren Milosis, 7-5, 6-0. Conatsu and Malika Miyawaki also prevailed in their opening games with the former topping Maya Jakubiszyn, 6-1, 6-1, and the latter downing Cameron Goss, 6-1, 6-2, respectively.

In the second round, all three CNMI players bowed to their foes, dropping them to the loser’s bracket. Miyawaki was beaten by No. 3 seed Leacy Argent, 6-4, 6-0; No. 2 Tamada Aulia blanked Conatsu, 6-0, 6-0; and No. 4 Tamada Bajagic defeated Coume, 6-1, 6-2.

After their losses, the three Commonwealth bets quickly regained their bearings with Coume sweeping her last four matches to rule the group and Conatsu and Miyawaki making it to the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.

Coume started her streak with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Goss. She then had a similar straight sets victory over Cassie Pleming, 6-2, 6-0, to advance to the semifinals of the upper half of the draw. In the semis, Coume rallied past Lara Wighton, 5-7, 6-3, 10-3, to move into the title game and avenge the quarterfinal defeat of her sister. Conatsu earlier edged Roxanne Lillico, 6-0, 6-1, before falling short against Wighton, 6-2, 6-7, 5-10, at the top half of the draw.

At the bottom half, Miyawaki eliminated Milosis, 6-2, 6-0, and stunned No. 8 seed Laura Peart, 6-1, 6-1, to march into the semifinals. Pandurevic then snapped Miyawaki’s streak and foiled an all-CNMI finale after prevailing in the semifinals, 6-1, 6-3. However, Pandurevic’s run also ended when Coume took only two sets to beat her Australian foe and win the consolation draw.

With Coume’s title, the CNMI got three championship trophies in the Land Down Under as Ji Min Woo earlier ruled the boys U12 consolation draw in the Margaret Court Cup.

Woo also played in the 2017 Victorian Junior Grasscourt Championships and made it to the semifinals of the consolation draw. He bowed to Filip Sormaz in the main draw, 5-7, 1-6, but won his next three matches to boost his bid for a second title in the consolation draw. The Grace Christian Academy student ousted Jack Bassett, 6-0, 6-1; Flynn Caruana, 6-2, 5-7, 10-5; and No. 3 seed Brian Capalnean, 7-6, 6-4, to gain a semis entry. In the Final Four, Woo played an extended game before losing to eventual champion Finn Barber, 5-4, 1-4, 7-10.

With Woo and company done with their two tournaments in Australia, they are now in Fiji for a 10-month training scholarship at the Oceania Tennis Federation/International Tennis Federation facility. Seung Jin Paik and Ken Song are also with the group.