LaHunn, Hannah start campaign in Sri Lanka

CNMI junior netters Hannah Chae, second from left, and LaHunn Lam, fourth from left, pose with Pacific Oceania boys U14 team coach and longtime CNMI national tennis coach Jeff Race, left, and the rest of the Pacific Oceania Team in the 2023 ITF World Teams Competition Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying Events in Colombo, Sri Lanka.(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

CNMI junior netters LaHunn Lam and Hannah Chae kicked off their campaign with the Pacific Oceania Team in the 2023 ITF World Teams Competition Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying Events last Monday in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Wins remain elusive for the Islanders as Lam’s boys U14 team lost to Kyrgyzstan, 0-3, and Bangladesh, 1-2; while Chae’s girls U14 squad succumbed, 0-3, to both Malaysia and Singapore.

Playing in Group C, Pacific Oceania’s U14 boys team went through a buzzsaw against Kyrgyzstan. Tahiti’s Toanui Lee Tam first lost to Roman Kim, 1-6, 0-6. Lam didn’t fare any better against David Mogilevski, 0-6 3-6, before Lam and Solomon Islands’ John Kenndy Taufunu bowed to Mogilevski and Ridvan Loianov, 1-6 3-6.

Lam and company gave a better account of themselves against Bangladesh despite losing the first two matches. Tam fell against Jawad Mohammad Bhuiyan, 0-6, 2-6, and Lam went down against Md Tanvir Mun Tushar, 2-6, 0-6. 

Lam and Taufunu bounced back, however, whey they salvaged a tough 6-2, 6-7(2), 8-10 win over Bhuiyan and MD Mohammad Arhaam Azizul Amin.

Chae and her team’s matchup against Malaysia in Group A began with Cook Islands’ Raetea Lyn Rongo losing to Adani Raihan Muhammad Azhari, 3-6, 2-6.

Papua New Guinea’s Colita Hakena also dropped her match against Daania Daniella Abd Hazli, 1-6, 3-6, before Chae and Rongo went down against Azhari and Lynn Lim, 2-6, 4-6.

Against Singapore, Chae lost to Joy-Shania Lee, 1-6, 2-6; Hakena absorbed a 2-6, 1-6 loss to Victoria Alekseykina, 2-6, 2-6; and Hakena and Rongo fell against Alekseykina and Sophie Ashley Chua. 2-6, 3-6.

CNMI Sports Hall of Famer and longtime national tennis coach Jeff Race, who is coaching the boys U14 team, said the Islanders are visibly struggling to get used to the clay courts in Sri Lanka. 

“We started yesterday and lost 0-3 to Kyrgyzstan. LaHunn played 11 bad games then went on a tear for three games before losing. He didn’t play well again today (yesterday) and we were down 0-2 (against Bangladesh) having lost both singles matches quite badly. The boys were feeling bad going into the doubles. LaHunn played with the No. 3 player from Solomons. They were down 2-6, 2-5, but got excited as they began to fight back game by game. They went up 6-5 and lost the next game so they played a tiebreaker, which they won.”

The Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association president said he’s glad that Lam finally got his groove back against Bangladesh in the doubles match. 

“Finally, LaHunn was playing consistently well and his partner was too. The super tiebreaker was very crazy and the boys were pumped. They won 10-8 to win their first match here. Now that they have a better feeling I hope to see some better performances tomorrow (Wednesday) against Lebanon. We have either three or four more days of competition depending on how things go,” he said.

Lam told Saipan Tribune that so far he’s been having a great time in Sri Lanka.

“Everything is great so far in Sri Lanka, people are kind, the food is delicious and exotic.” 

As for the games, the 12-year-old said he’s pumped to be playing against some of the best players in his age group from the region.

“This is my first time playing in the ITF U14 world team competition and it has a lot of good players representing their nations in Asia and Oceania. It excites me to meet top players from the different countries and play the matches.”

Chae, for her part, echoed what Lam said, saying she too is having the time of her life in the South Asian nation.

“It’s going very well! I’m meeting a lot of friends from other countries. The competition is going well too. Our team is working hard. Our opponents might be strong players, but we’re showing our best to make them awesome matches,” she said.