Ji Hoon to play in Japan after 2008 POJC

The CNMI’s top netter Ji Hoon Heo will compete in Japan after taking part in next month’s 2008 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Lautoka, Fiji.

In an email to the Saipan Tribune, the 16-year-old wunderkind said he will be playing in the Hyogo International Junior Tennis Tournament 1 set from Aug. 27 to 31.

“I will be playing in Japan after the Oceania Junior Championships. It is a group 5 tournament and I hope to get more ranking points in Japan. I’ll be needing to play more ITF tournaments if I want to be in the top,” he said.

The Hyogo International Junior Tennis Tournament 1 will be played on a 9 Hard surface at the Miki Disaster Management Park Beans Dome.

Heo, along with other CNMI bets James Camacho, Mayuko Arriola, Dina Jones, Christian Miller, Rafael Jones, and Thea Minor, will see action n the 2008 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships set from Aug. 13 to 17 at the Dr. Robin Mitchell Tennis Centre in Lautoka.

Of the players, however, only Heo advanced outright to the annual championships for junior netters in the region after finishing second in last year’s event.

The rest of the CNMI players earned a ticket to Fiji after finishing among the Top 3 in the North Pacific Qualifier held last June at the Rick Ninete Tennis Center in Tamuning, Guam.

In an earlier email to the Saipan Tribune, Heo said he is looking forward to challenging for the top spot in POJC after finishing second to Daneric Hazelman of Fiji in 2007.

He said aside from his New Caledonian doubles partner, other netters to watch out for in the boys’ 18-and-under are Fiji’s William O’ Connell, Vanuatu’s Lorenzo Pineda, and Solomon Islands’ Duncan Maetoloa.

Heo is not yet 100 percent entering the final three weeks of preparation to the 2008 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships, as the ankle injury he sustained during last month’s BNP Paribas de Nouvelle Caledonie tournament in Noumea has not completely healed.

He said, at best, his ankle is about 75 percent, but added that he is still playing with it while training at the Dr. Robin Mitchell Tennis Centre.

Heo warmed up for the 2008 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships by taking part in the International Tennis Federation-sanctioned events—the aforementioned BNP Paribas de Nouvelle Caledonie tournament and the 2008 Air Pacific South Pacific Open Junior Championships.

Heo and his partner, O’Conner, reached the third round of the Air Pacific South Pacific Open Junior Championships before losing to the vaunted pair of Sam Barr and Stuard Robertson-both of New Zealand-in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5.

Playing with Pineda, Heo meanwhile barged into the quarterfinals of the 2008 Open Junior BNP Paribas de Nouvelle Caledonie tournament. The feat, coupled with a similar success in the singles, allowed Heo to finally get his ITF points and currently he is ranked 1,425 in the list.

Last year in the 2007 Pacific-Oceania Junior Championships, Heo lost to Hazelman in two highly competitive sets in the boys’ 18-and-division finals, 7-6 (9), 6-2.