2006 Fall Classic hits AMP tomorrow

Attention will now turn to the top junior tennis players in the Commonwealth as the Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association hosts the 2006 Fall Classic Junior Tennis Tournament this weekend at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

Six categories will be up for grabs but organizers were only able to release five of the draws yesterday.

Action is expected to be intense in the boys’ 18-and-under division, as eight top guns will be vying for supremacy. The division will not only feature six of the top male juniors, but also two standouts from the girls’ corner as Mayuko Arriola and Lila Mailman have registered for the competition.

Arriola will be facing rising star Benjie Decena of Tinian, who has graduated from the 13-and-under division and will make his debut in the 18-and-under category. The two will battle at 3pm, while Mailman will be taking on Russell Buenaventura at 4pm. Buenaventura has several junior titles under his belt. Both Arriola and Mailman competed for the CNMI in the recent 6th Micronesian Games, as well as the Pacific Oceania Junior Tennis Championships in Fiji over the summer.

The other two opening round matches feature top seed Ji Hoon Heo taking on Henry Yang at 3pm, while fellow standout Nicolas Son battles Henry Lee at 4pm.

The semifinals will be held on Saturday, with both matches kicking off at noon. The winner of the Heo-Yang bout and the Arriola-Decena contest will meet in the semis, while the victor of the Buenaventura-Mailman and Son-Lee contests will face off in the other half of the semis. The finals is scheduled for 3pm on Sunday.

Eight players have also registered for the boys’ 9-and-under division. Colin Ramsey and Tae Jun Kim will meet in the opening round, while Luther Lizama and Dylan Ackerman face off as well. Both matches will be at 11am, with the winners playing each other in the semifinals the same day at noon.

The bottom half of the draw features Michael Grandinetti and Aaron Lee battling, and Raj Ramanjani and Quintin Ramsey testing each other. Both matches are scheduled for 1pm and the winners will play in the semifinals at 2pm. The finals for the division will be at 9am on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the girls’ 13-and-under competition has also attracted eight competitors as top seed Thea Minor goes up against multi-sport athlete Ilia Corella, and Michaela Grandinetti faces Theecel Minor. Both bouts will be at 1pm tomorrow, with the two winners facing each other in the semifinals.

Jessica Soll and Cleo Von Siebenthal battle at 2:30pm, as do Shane Jones and top gun Melody Johnson. The two winners will then battle in the semis. Both semifinals matches are scheduled for 10:30am on Saturday.

Five players are confirmed to compete in the girls’ 9-and-under division, as Gabrielle Race, Emily Jones, Neghar Rastguiy, Liyza Atalig, and Adel Hudkins will battle in a round-robin competition.

Race and Atalig go at it at 9am tomorrow, while Hudkins and Jones face off at 11am. Rastguiy and Atalig will then face off at 11am as well. Race and Hudkins battle at 12pm, and Rastguiy and Jones face off at the same time.

Organizers are also finalizing details for the boys’ 13-and-under competition.