Kim takes early lead in girls U14 singles

The CNMI’s Helen Kim swept her pair of opening games in the girls U14 singles event in the 2019 North Pacific Regional Championships that kicked off yesterday at the Pacific Islands Club and American Memorial Park tennis courts.
Kim, seeded No. 4 in the division, first defeated the unranked Randiann Atento of Guam, 6-0, 6-1, at the AMP court, and then returned at the same venue to pull off an upset over No. 1 and fellow Commonwealth player Hyejin Elliot, 6-4, 6-2, and take the early lead in the Group A pool play. Elliot settled for a 1-1 record on Day 1 of the tournament, as she earlier topped the Federated States of Micronesia’s Movia Jerry, 6-1, 7-6.

In other results in Group A, Palau’s Galyah Mikel dominated FSM’s Artisha Malarme, 6-0, 6-0; Malarme edged Atento, 6-2, 6-1; and Jerry swept Mikel, 6-3, 6-3. In Group B, FSM’s Leila Etscheit went 2-0 in the opening day after beating No. 2 Ngelittle Silmai of Palau, 6-4, 6-0, and compatriot Nicola Paterson, 6-0, 6-1. Guam’s Alicia Addision was also perfect on Day 1 following her victory over the CNMI’s Serin Chung, 6-2, 6-3, and Paterson, 6-0, 6-1.

The Top 2 finishers in each pool will advance to the semifinals of the girls U14 singles division and players in the age group and other categories are also battling for slots on the North Pacific Team that will compete in the 2019 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji this summer.

In the boys U14 singles, Guam’s Arjan Sachdev outclassed the CNMI’s Eubin Park, 7-6, 6-0; FSM’s Theodore Ned shut down Guam’s Nathan San Augustin; the CNMI’s Anthony Gregoire swept Palau’s Kaekoa Mamis, 6-2, 6-2; Guam’s Jacob Jackson defeated compatriot’s Mason Taitano, 6-0, 6-1; the CNMI’s David Kwon nosed out Palau’s Ton Parez, 7-6, 6-4; and Guam’s Aarman beat the CNMI’s Ki Suk Lee, 6-0, 6-0. The top finishers in the four groups after the pool play will move into the semis.

In the boys U16 singles, No. 1 seed Sean Lee of the CNMI was all business on Day 1, as he blanked No. 4 and FSM bet Deavyn Etscheit, while Isaac Heo went 1-for-2 in the opening day, as he lost to Etscheit, 3-6, 0-6, and then won over Guam’s Jacob San Augustin, 6-3, 6-0, in the Group A matches.

In Group B, No. 2 Sam Ryu also prevailed in his opener after downing fellow CNMI player and No. 3 Eugene Park, 6-2, 6-2, while the latter got into the win column after crushing Cory Lee, also of the CNMI, 6-0, 6-0.

In the girls U16 singles, FSM’s Anne Skilling and Ridianne Wolphagen won the pair of opening games after prevailing against Isabella Sipos, also from FSM, 6-0, 6-1, and the CNMI’s Maria Gregoire, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, respectively. Only four players are entered in the division.

Meanwhile, the U12 age group competition (team event) also kicked off yesterday. The CNMI 1’s Irin Chung and Dana Lee cruised to a 3-0 win over CNMI 2’s Hoo Wang, Savita Sikkel, and Anna Kwon in the girls division.

In other results, Guam Girls 1 shut down Guam 3 and FSM Girls 1 dominated FSM Girls 2, 3-0, before edging Guam 2, 2-1. In the boys division, Guam 1 topped FSM 1, 3-0; while CNMI 1’s June Yu, and Juncheol Hwang nipped Guam 2’s Logan Schembari, Gannon Sweeney and David San Augustin, 2-1.