Jimin, Serin atop junior rankings

Woo

Jimin Woo and Serin Chung have managed to soldier on during the COVID-19 pandemic, winning enough local tennis tournaments to find themselves atop the Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association junior tennis rankings.

Woo is lording it over in the boys 18-and-under division with a total of 1,825 points. He got 1,500 points after winning the singles title in the 2021 TSL CNMI Junior Tennis Tournament and got another 325 points for topping the doubles division of the same tournament with Ji Hwan “Sam” Ryu.

Ryu is second in the boys 18-and-under division with 1,459 points. He finished runner-up to Woo in the junior championships to gain 1,125 and then got the same 325 points as his doubles partner in the same tourney.

Sean Lee completes the Top 3 in the division with 1,125 points. He got 900 points for finishing second runner-up in the 2021 TSL CNMI Junior Tennis Tournament and got another 225 for coming in second with Seong Euan “Isaac” Heo in the doubles event of the same competition.

With 1,825 points, Chung is the pacesetter in the girls 18-and-under division. She received 1,500 points for winning the age group’s singles championship in the 2021 TSL CNMI Junior Tennis Tournament and another 325 points for prevailing in the doubles with partner Hye Jin Elliot. Elliot is second in the age group for coming in second to Chung in the junior championships, which gave her 1,125 points. She then got another 325 points for teaming up with her singles final opponent in the doubles to give her 1,450 points for the season.

Seiyul Hong closed out the Top 3 in the girls 18-and-under division with 1,200. She had 900 points for coming in third to Chung and Elliot in the singles competition of the 2021 TSL CNMI Junior Tennis Tournament and received 300 points for coming in second in the doubles of the same tourney with partner Yebin Shin.

Chung

In the boys 16-and-under division, Cody Shimizu is a mere 50 points ahead of Sam Culp, 2,100 points-2,050 points. Shimizu got 600 points from finishing third in the 2020 Coconut Tennis Classic and 1,500 points for the topping the age group’s singles competition in the 2021 TSL CNMI Junior Tennis Tournament.

Culp, for his part, gained 750 points for finishing runner-up in the 2020 Saipan International School STUCO Tennis Tournament, 400 points for coming in fifth in the 2020 Coconut Tennis Classic, and 900 points for a third-place finish in the 2021 TSL CNMI Junior Tennis Tournament.

Min Seoung Kim is in third place in the boys 16-and-under division with 2,025 points. He had 600 points for finishing third in the SIS STUCO Tennis Tournament, 300 points for coming in sixth in the Coconut Tennis Classic, and 1,125 points for being the runner-up to Shimizu in the 2021 TSL CNMI Junior Tennis Tournament.

Chung, Elliot, and Hong also found themselves coming in 1-2-3 in the 16-and-under division rankings with 2,000 points, 1,500 points, and 600 points, respectively.

NMITA keeps tabs on the junior rankings as this will determine the composition of the yearly North Pacific Regional Championships. Winners of the NPRC will then go on to compete in the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Lautoka, Fiji.

The rankings for the boys 14-and-under, 12-and-under, and 10-and-under and girls 14-and-under, 12-and-under, and 10-and-under will be published in tomorrow’s edition of Saipan Tribune.