Hwang, Gregoire earn finals berth

The unranked Anthony Gregoire and Juncheol Hwang clinched the first finals berth in the boys U16 doubles event in the 2019 DFS CNMI Junior Championships after stunning their seeded opponents last Sunday at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

Hwang and Gregoire swept No. 2 Isaac Heo and David Kwon, 6-4, 6-4, to take the finals berth at the lower half of the draw. The first finalists will face the winner of the semis match between the pairs of No. 1 Sean Lee and Sam Ryu and Hyumin Cho and Alex Park this weekend. Cho and Park made it to the semifinals of the upper half of the draw following a 6-3, 7-5 triumph over Gang Min Kim and Jun Wang, while Lee and Ryu got an outright Final Four slot after drawing a bye in the opening week of the Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association-sanctioned tournament.

In the boys U18 singles, the Top 2 favorites, Robbie Schorr and Jimin Woo, delivered in the opener of the round-robin contest.

Woo defeated Vincent Tudela, 6-2, 6-2, while Schorr had a similar straight set victory over Andy Kim, 6-1, 6-0. Schorr and Woo will cross path this Sunday for the likely division-deciding match.

In other results, Kwon Lee and Yutaka Kadokura both downed Riku Takahashi to set up their duel for the boys U10 singles championship this weekend. Lee outclassed Takahashi last Saturday, 6-4, while Kadokura had an easier win over the latter last Sunday, 6-2.

In the boys U14 singles that also has a round-robin format, Gregoire and Kwon made it to the win column after dominating Cory Lee and Eubin Park in similar scores, 6-0, 6-0.

In the boys U12 singles, Wataru Kadokura and Nason Wessel booked the last two semis tickets in the division. Kadokura eliminated Kisuk Lee, 6-1, 4-6, 10-5, to march into the Final Four against the No. 1 seed Hwang, who drew a bye in the opening week for an automatic semis berth. No. 2 seed June Yu also got an outright semis entry and will collide against Wessel, who ousted Takeru Jim, 6-4, 6-1.

The semis cast in the boys U16 singles event has been completed, too after No. 1 Sean Lee, No. 2 Ryu, and No. 3 Andy Kim delivered, and Heo pulled off an upset last weekend.

Lee hammered Eugene Park, 6-0, 6-0, for a semis date with Kim, who knocked off Hyumin Cho, 6-0, 6-2. Ryu also took only two sets to beat Gang Min Kim, 6-0, 6-2, and arrange a Final Four showdown versus Heo, who stunned No. 4 Jun Wang, 6-4, 6-4.