Nason, La Hunn onto semifinals

Nason Wessel and La Hunn Lam are safely into the semifinals of the boys 14 division as the 2023 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships is in the homestretch in Lautoka, Fiji.

Wessel advanced after beating Fiji’s Uraia Ratu, 6-3, 6-1, in the quarterfinals yesterday.

It’s the third third straight triumph for Wessel after an opening day loss. 

“Personally I feel like I could’ve done better in terms of getting a higher place in the semis but I feel happy I’m in the semis. POJC is a good stepping stone for professional tennis and if you do well in it you can go to a lot of places. I love Fiji but it would be nice to go somewhere else for tennis as well,” he said.

Lam, meanwhile, posted his fourth straight dominating win to remain perfect in the POJC following a masterful 6-0, 6-0 victory over American Samoa’s Aifili Tamasoaali’L.

“It feels great and exciting to make it this far and play in the semifinals. I will be 100% focused and do my best to win to make the best memories in my age group,” he said.

CNMI Sports Hall of Famer and CNMI national coach Jeff Race said so far so good for the Commonwealth’s best bets in the boys 14.

“LaHunn is our thoroughbred and hasn’t been tested yet. That should change tomorrow. Nason really used his brain today to overcome his opponent.”

In other matches yesterday, Anne Lee lost to girls 14 top seed Colita Hakena of Papua New Guinea, 3-6, 1-6, in the quarterfinals. Lee is now relegated to the 5-8 playoff.

In the girls 16, Irin Chung won her positional matchup against compatriot Hoo Wang, 6-4, 3-0 (retired); Henry Seungwoo Choi took out fellow CNMI netter June Yu, 6-2, 6-3, in another positional match in the boys 16; Siwoo Lee beat Federated States of Micronesia’s Dontrick Daniel, 6-4, 6-0, in a positional match in the boys 14; and Lina Tsukagoshi won her positional match against Guam’s Rachel San Agustin, 6-1, 6-1.

Race said experience or lack of it seems to have befallen the CNMI’s junior netters in the 2023 POJC.

“Many of the kids feel the pressure of playing in, what is for them, their biggest tournament. They feel fear and that feeling causes them to abandon their training. Our focus in the next year will definitely include that,” he said.

Race, meanwhile, saluted the CNMI boys 12 team, saying “they’ve been doing really well. Michael [Jeon] and Ryan [Choi] have really come through. Michael has played with real courage at times. He’s quite fearless and has overcome match points down on multiple occasions to come back and win matches. Ryan is one of the strongest players in his age group. The girls are quite young but have played a lot of tough matches too.”

For Tsukagoshi, finally winning her third game after two losses was the silver lining in her POJC campaign.

“Fiji has been good. I’ve had a lot of good games with people I went up against last year. My shots got stronger and I feel like I got better at putting the shots where they can’t get it,” she said.

Team CNMI, which plays as part of the North Pacific Team in the POJC, is coached by Race and Colin Ramsey, the current No. 1 singles player in the Commonwealth.