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Nations Cup canceled
Robbie Schorr will miss playing for the CNMI this June, as the Nations Cup has been canceled. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
Tennis players Robbie Schorr, Bobby Cruz, and Jimin Woo may have to wait for a while before getting another chance to represent the CNMI, as this year’s Nations Cup has been canceled.
Schorr, Cruz, and Woo were selected to don the colors of the Commonwealth anew and compete in the 2020 Nations Cup that was originally scheduled from June 1 to 6 in Samoa. However, this year’s edition of the event that features 18 out of the 20-member countries of the Oceania Tennis Federation has been shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It would have been the third time that the CNMI will be participating in the elite tournament. In 2018, the Commonwealth made history in the OTF after ruling the women’s division of the first Nations Cup, which took place in Fiji. Carol Lee, Isabel Heras, and Conatsu Kaga played for the champion team, which defeated the Steffi Carruthers-led Samoa in the finals, 2-1.
Schorr and Woo also saw action in the inaugural tournament, teaming up with Ken Song and the squad finished in the Top 10 in the men’s field, which Tahiti topped.
Song and Schorr then returned to Fiji last year to suit up for the CNMI anew in the Nations Cup and battled Samoa, the Fiji Development Team, and Kiribati.
Before being selected to play for the Commonwealth in the Nations Cup this year, Schorr represented the CNMI to the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa and won a gold medal in the team event and silver in the men’s doubles. Cruz was also part of the CNMI National Team, while Woo was a member of the junior squad that played in the 2019 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji.
Meanwhile, Woo is also scheduled to train at the OTF/ITF Regional Training Facility in Fiji, but with the current COVID-19 crisis and the uncertainties that goes with it, he may have to pass on the chance this summer.
