CNMI players stand ground

Malika Miyawaki, seen here competing in a local tournament, teamed up with Carol Lee in giving North Pacific a victory against West Pacific in the Doubles 2 event of the 2017 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships Team Event yesterday in Fiji. (Contributed Photo)

North Pacific leaned on CNMI players to tie West Pacific, 4-4, during the rain-delayed opening of the 2017 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships Team Event yesterday in Fiji.

Carol Lee handed North Pacific a pair of wins, while the two other victories came from Ken Song and Michael Ren and Guam’s Camden Camacho.

The North-West showdown in the U16 age group started with the boys Singles 1 game between Robbie Schorr and Vanuatu’s Clement Mainguy, who drew first blood after a 4-1, 4-1 triumph over the Commonwealth player. Up next was the boys Singles 2 event and Camacho evened up the count following a 5-3, 4-0 victory against Vanuatu’s Marlin Hannam.

For the third match, Lee gave North Pacific the lead when she dominated Fiji’s Saoirse Breen in the Singles 1, 5-0, 4-1. However, West Pacific tied the duel anew, thanks to the 4-2, 4-0 win of Vanuatu’s Rosalie Molballeh against Grace Choi.

The neck-and-neck battle continued in the boys Doubles 1, as North Pacific moved on top after Ren and Song slipped past Tuvalu’s Gavin Moliti and Vanuatu’s Samuel Strid, 4-1, 1-4, 12-10. West Pacific then forced the third deadlock when Mainguy and Fiji’s Shantanu Shail prevailed against Vincent Tudela and the Federated States of Micronesia’s Joab Williams in another super tiebreaker three-set tiff, 4-2, 2-4, 10-8.

In the girls division, Lee teamed up with fellow CNMI player Malika Miyawaki and lifted North Pacific to a 4-3 advantage after a 4-1, 4-1 win in the Doubles 1 versus Breen and Vanuatu’s Desiree Signo. However, West Pacific ended up tying the matchup after the Vanuatu tandem of Molballeh and Daisy Spiti downed Guam’s Anika Sachdev and Joycelyn Tenai in Doubles 2, 4-0, 4-0.

In other results, FSM’s Jones George was the lone player to make it to the win column in the North Pacific’s loss to East in the U12 age group.

George played in the first game and outclassed Tahiti’s Arlitea Cotti in the Singles 1, 4-2, 5-3. East Pacific swept the seven remaining matches to kick off it campaign in the team event of the division on high gear.

The CNMI’s Daniel Kang suited up for the North Pacific in the Singles 2 and bowed to the Cook Islands’ Maka Maui, 1-4, 0-4. Another Commonwealth player, Hye Jin Elliot, also played in the singles (2) and fell to Maui’s compatriot Moana Une, 3-5, 0-4. Elliot was entered in the doubles contest, too along with FSM’s Leilah Etscheit and they lost to Tahiti’s Vaiani Dussere-Valleau and Samoa’s Mahina Warren, 3-5, 0-4. Palau and Guam netters played in the other games for North Pacific and also faltered against Samoa, Tahiti, and Cook Islands bets.

In the U14, East Pacific triumphed, too versus West, 5-3. East Pacific won three of the last four matches in the pairing for the close victory.

Meanwhile, games in the team event will continue today with the North Pacific’s U14 squad having its first assignment in the round-robin competition against West Pacific. The CNMI’s Seung Jin Paik, Jimin Woo, Sean Lee, siblings Coume and Conatsu Kaga, and Maria Gregoire will banner North Pacific.

North’s U16 crew will also play in Day 2 and will challenge East Pacific for its final assignment. North Pacific must post a convincing win against East to boost its title bid in the division. Also scheduled in Day 2 is the West and East collision in the U12 age group.