CNMI hosts second Junior ITF tourney

A Japanese female player makes a return from the baseline during the qualifying tournament for the 2014 IT&E Northern Marianas Junior Championships yesterday at the Pacific Islands Club hard courts.
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Qualifying games both in the boys and girls U18 singles were played yesterday at the Pacific Islands Club hard courts and matches will conclude today, while action in the main draw will kick off tomorrow. Four players moved one win away from notching slots to the boys main draw after winning their respective qualifying matches yesterday.

South Korea’s Yohan Sung is among them, as he beat Japan’s Daisuke Sumizawa, 6-1, 7-5. Sung will face another Japanese foe in Yu Sasaki for one of the four spots in the main draw. The three other berths will be contested by Thailand’s Kittikawin Naksaringcarin, Hong Kong’s Wui Wesley Law and Fabien Calloud, Japan’s Yuki Watanabe and Eikoh Hayashi, and Australia’s Chris Kafataris.

Naksaringcarin drew a first round bye in the qualifier to arrange a date with Law, a 6-0, 6-0 winner over Japan’s Kichi Ishida. Watanabe also had a bye, while his second round foe Kafataris nailed a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Denton Ho of Hong Kong. Hayashi played an extended game, slipping past Thailand’s Michael Mathayomchand for a make-or-break game against Calloud.

In the girls division, Japan’s Ayumi Hirata, Hiraku Sato, Asuza Yasaki, and Yurie Takanishi gained entries to the main draw after booting out their compatriots in two sets. Hirata downed Maine Hiramatsu, 6-0, 6-3; Sato prevailed against Minori Otsuka, 6-1, 6-1; Yasaki topped Haruka Okawara, 6-1, 6-3; and Takanishi defeated Yuka Hashimoto, 6-1, 6-0.

In the main draw, the four Japanese will join the CNMI’s Tammy Ackerman, Grace Choi Negahr Rastguiy, Mikayla Lopez, Mimi Sakano, and Julia Ishikawa. South Korea, Thailand, Guam, Australia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Palau, Chinese-Taipei, and several other Japanese players are also entered in the girls singles main draw. In the boys division, the CNMI has Seiya Eda, Luther Lizama, Jake Lee, Colin Ramsey, Michael Ren, Vincent Tudela, Amami Sakano, Tommy Choi, and Moris Villanueva.

The 2014 IT&E Northern Marianas Junior Championships is a Grade 5 event and an introduction to Junior ITF circuit. Ranking points are awarded to winners of the tournament with 30 going to the singles champion, 20 to runner-up, 15 to the semifinalists, 10 to the quarterfinalist, and five to the losers in the last 16. In the doubles, the points are as follow: 20 for champions, 15 for runners-up, 10 for semifinalists, and five for quarterfinalists. The ongoing tournament at PIC is the second Junior ITF ranking event the CNMI is hosting after bringing the same competition on Saipan last year. It is also the second and last stop of the circuit in Micronesia after Guam hosted the first leg last week.