3 CNMI players still unbeaten

Sean Lee hits the ball back to Guam’s Jacob San Augustin during their boys U16 singles game in the 2019 North Pacific Regional Championships yesterday morning at the American Memorial Park tennis courts. Lee won, 6-0, 6-0.(Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Sean Lee, Helen Kim, and Sam Ryu are still perfect in the 2019 North Pacific Regional Championships.

The No. 1 seeded Lee notched another dominant win after sweeping Guam’s Jacob San Augustin, 6-0, 6-0, in the boys U16 singles game yesterday morning at the American Memorial Park tennis courts. Lee has yet to drop a game, as he also blanked No. 4 Deavyn Etscheit of the Federated States of Micronesia during his opening game last Monday. The top-ranked player was also scheduled to meet fellow CNMI player Jun Wang in the afternoon match, but results of their tiff along with the two other games in Group A, has yet to be posted on the event website as off press time last night.

In Group B, No. 2 Ryu duplicated Lee’s 2-0 record after defeating Guam’s Aidan Schembari, 6-0, 6-2, and was going for win No. 3 yesterday against FSM’s Nolen Narruhn.

In the girls U14 singles, Kim improved to a 3-0 mark to stay on top of Group A following her 6-2, 7-5 triumph over FSM’s Movida Jerry. Kim was slated to play her fourth match versus FSM’s Artisha Malarme yesterday,

Also winning on Day 2 in the Group A match is No. 1 Hyejin Elliot, who routed Malarme, 6-0, 6-2, for a 2-1 mark in pool play with two more matches left in the elimination round. In Group B, Serin Chung fought back from her opening day loss with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over FSM’s Nicole Paterson, while Guam’s Alicia Addison bagged her third straight victory after outclassing No. 2 Ngelittle Silmai of Palau, 6-1, 6-1.

In other results, Palau’s Galyah Mikel shut down Guam’s Randiann Atento in the girls U14 singles, 6-0, 6-0; FSM’s Jones George routed the CNMI’s Eubin Park in the boys U14, 6-1, 6-0; and FSM’s Anne Skilling topped the CNMI’s Maria Gregoire in the girls U16singles, 6-2, 6-0.

In the U12 team competition, the CNMI’s two girls squads were victorious on Day 2 of the tournament.

Anna Kwon and Savita Sikkel of CNMI 2 defeated Guam 3’s Eliza San Augustin, 6-1, 6-1, and Amelie Terlaje, 6-3, 6-4, respectively, to secure the early win for the host team. CNMI 1’s Irin Chung and Dana Lee also took the outright victory, as the former beat FSM’s Destiny Narruhn, 6-3, 6-1, and the latter swept Jenny Sipos, 6-0, 6-3.

In other results in team event, Guam Girls 1 won over Guam Girls 2, 2-0; Guam Boys 2 topped FSM Boys 2, 2-0; and Guam Boys 1 outclassed CNMI Boys 2, 2-0. There were four other pairings scheduled for yesterday, but results have yet to be posted on the tournament website.

The CNMI’s Serin Chung returns to the Federated State of Micronesia’s Nicole Paterson during their girls U14 singles game in the 2019 North Pacific Regional Championships yesterday at the American Memorial Park tennis courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)