La Hunn is boys 14 singles champion

The CNMI’s La Hunn Lam in action against No. 1 seed Junhyuk Seo of Guam in the boys 14 player division finalsof the 2023 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships yesterday in Lautoka, Fiji. (Contributed Photo)

The CNMI’s La Hunn Lam is the region’s top boys 14 player after topping the division in the 2023 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships yesterday in Lautoka, Fiji.

The 13-year-old finished off No. 1 seed Junhyuk Seo of Guam, 6-1, 4-1 (retired), in the finals to continue his dominance of his age group as he didn’t drop a single set in Fiji.

The second-seeded Lam said he felt awesome after the win against the favored Seo. It was made more special since he injured his ankle in the semifinals two days prior.

“My ankle felt much better than the other day. I was trying my best to be focused fully in every point and reset my mind and it worked well. I am so grateful and happy to be here and win my first POJC championship!” he said.

Lam said his boys 14 singles championship wouldn’t have been possible without the help and support he received from Team NMI.

“I am dedicating the championships to my parents, coach Jeff [Race], Colin [Ramsey], and my NMI friends who have been supporting me very much,” he said. 

Race, for his part, couldn’t say enough about Lam’s maturity on the tennis court. 

“He played great in the first set. He did everything he was supposed to do. He came out strong and kept the pressure on. He served exceptionally well. Played the ball deep and hit a lot of winners off the forehand whenever he had the opportunity. A few terrific defensive plays at important moments. Only two double faults I can recall,” he said. 

After topping the boys 14 singles in the POJC, Race said he is now looking to arrange for Lam to stay in Fiji for two ITF J30 events coming in the next two weeks.

As for forcing Seo to retire in the finals, Race said it just shows how physically in tip-top shape Lam was in the championship match. 

“I think that La Hunn worked him so hard that he hurt his back. Definitely wasn’t hurting when he played Nason [Wessel] in the semifinals,” he said.

Wessel, meanwhile, took third place in boys 14 after outlasting Tahiti’s Toanui Lee Tham, 7-5, 2-6, 10-8.

Wessel said winning second runner-up sure was a good consolation after losing to Seo in the semifinals last Monday.

“I feel good winning as it comes with more opportunities than fourth place,” he said.

There was a bit of a controversy in the tiebreaker when both Wessel and Tham didn’t agree on the score that precipitated a 20-minute lull.

“The score dispute wasn’t supposed to happen if both of us were calling the score the whole time. Unfortunately, we only called it sometimes. I feel bad as I feel I’m not going to be as close to my friend from Tahiti as before but I also feel I am in the right as the umpire made it fair when we had the dispute. I still had to come back after the dispute and win five points in a row,” he said.

Race said Tham was on the verge of winning the match up 7-5 when Lam’s teammate in the 2023 ITF World Teams Competition Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying Events inexplicably made five straight unforced errors, which allowed Wessel to claw his way back and eventually win the super tiebreaker and the match.

Later in the afternoon, Lam and Wessel would conspire to win their rain-delayed semis match in the boys doubles 14 against Tahiti’s Nicholas Montaigut and Matehau Sacault, 6-4, 6-2.

It thus will be an all-CNMI affair in the finals of the boys 14 doubles. This, after Ryan Choi and Siwoo Lee caught a break when No. 2 seeds Seo and Federated States of Micronesia’s Dontrick Daniel withdrew from the match. 

Seo obviously was still feeling the back pain he sustained in his earlier match against Lam, allowing Choi and Lee a walkover win to the finals.

In the quarterfinals of the boys 16 doubles, Henry Seungwoo Choi and June Yu pulled off an epic come-from-behind victory over Fiji’s Ao Li and Devaansh Singh, 4-6, 6-2, 10-6.

In the girls 16 quarterfinals, Irin Chung and Hoo Wang hacked out a 6-3, 6-2 win over Guam’s Leila Mercado and Amelie Terlaje.

In the girls 14, Anne Lee finished seventh after beating Vanuatu’s Ashanti Ligo, 6-3, 6-4.

In the girls positional rankings for fifth to eighth place, Anne Lee and Lina Tsukagoshi topped Fiji’s Alexandria Chand and Palau’s Clara Ueki, 6-1, 6-1.

Simon Tang and his doubles partner Luke Pierre of Cook Islands finished seventh in the boys 16 doubles following their walkover win against Vanuatu’s Fintan Molbaleh and Alessandro Traverso.

Prior to Choi and Yu’s semifinals match in the boys 16 and Ching and Wang’s in the girls 16 played late yesterday, CNMI netters have been perfect on the penultimate day of the POJC.

That led Race to quip “actually we are so far undefeated today. The first day or two was like our worst results ever and today we had our first day [so far] ever without a loss. It’s feast or famine, I guess.”