White-Coconut Classic to start this weekend

Landon Pudney, seen here in action in the SIS STUCO Tennis Tournament, is seeded No. 2 in the boys U12 singles of this weekend’s 2020 White Coconut Classic. (Mark Rabago)

The Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association will hold its 2020 White-Coconut Classic starting this weekend at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

A total of 13 divisions will be contested in the five-day tournament—men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s 40 & over singles, women’s 40 & over singles, mixed up doubles, boys U16, U14, U12, and U10 singles, and girls U16, U14, U12, and U10 singles.

In the men’s singles, the top seed is Robbie Schorr, followed by Jimin Woo, T.J. Bellama, and Ken Song. Schorr is coming off a boys U18 singles championship in the recently concluded SIS STUCO Tennis Tournament.

In the women’s singles, Lydia Tan earned the no. 1 seed with Elizabeth Culp getting the No. 2. Sarka Jambor, Jinhui Jeong, Seon Hee Kim, and Yuko Kumada make up the rest of the field.

Jeff Race and Hoo Wang banner the mixed-up doubles as the top seed, while Jimin Woo and Seo Hee Lee are the No. 2 seeds. June Yu and Ji Hwan Ryu are seeded No. 3, while Takeru Jim and Ken Song are No. 4.

In the boys U10 singles, Ian Chae and Landon Pudney are the Top 2 seeds, while Eun Been Hwang and Eliza Culp are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the girls U10 singles.

Nason Wessel, Yutaka Kadokura, Simon Tang, Ki Won Lee are the Top 4 seeds in the boys U12 singles. Irin Chung is the top seed in the girls U12 singles with Jieun Anna Kwon the second seed.

In the boys U14 singles, June Yu is the No. 1 seed with Wataru Kadokura the No. 2 seed. Incidentally, the two also faced off in the finals of the SIS STUCO Tennis Tournament with Yu winning in two sets.

In the girls U14 singles, best friends Helen Kim and Serin Chung are the top seeds in the division. Kim won the finals of the same division in the recent SIS tourney at the expense of her Saipan International School classmate.

Newly crowned SIS tourney boys U16 champion Andy Kim leads the field in the boys U16 singles, followed by No. 2 David Kwon. In the men’s 40 & over, the top 2 seeds are Brian Wessel and Gary Ramsey.

All matches check-in will be at the AMP tennis courts and playdates are Feb. 8, 9, 15, 16, and 17. All players are reminded to bring a water bottle and to arrive 15 minutes prior to their scheduled match.

For more information on the 2020 White-Coconut Classic, call tournament coordinator Jeff Race at 483-5652 or email raceaces@yahoo.com.