Thea is lone September selection

CNMI junior netter Thea Minor’s impressive showing in New Caledonia earned her the September NMASA Female Student Athlete of the Month award.

The Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association recognized Minor’s performance in tournaments in the French territory during NMASA’s monthly meeting Thursday night at the conference room of the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Minor was in New Caledonia for two weeks last month to compete in tournaments in Lifoi in the Provincial Islands and in Noumea.

The 13-year-old netter was part of the Pacific Oceania team that challenged New Caledonia players.

Her first stop was in Lifoi, playing against qualifiers from New Caledonia’s three provinces, namely the North of the Province Tennis, South of the Province Tennis, and the Provincial Islands Tennis.

Together with teammates Annie Shannon, Maria Tere Apisah, and Tarani Kamoe, Minor participated in a Davis Cup-styled tournament and ruled the event.

From Lifoi, Minor went to Noumea to compete in the Open Jeunes 2008 at TC Olympique court. She was entered in the girls’ 13-and-under division and was pitted against much older foes in the 17-18 age group.

Minor made it to the semifinals of both age groups.

She was seeded eighth in the younger age group and clobbered Yaelle Honakoko in the first round, 6-0, 6-2. Minor advanced to the quarterfinals after whipping Lucila Pattoua, 6-1, 6-4, and went on to gain a semis entry via a hard-earned 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win against Trimari Assya.

In the semifinals, the CNMI netter dueled teammate Shannon, who had to bleed for points before beating Minor in the first set, 7-5. Shannon foiled Minor’s finals bid with a 6-1 victory in the second set.

A semis finish in the 13-14 age group moved Minor five notches higher in the seedings for the Dames division (17-18 age group).

A much younger and smaller Minor was not intimidated by her taller and beefier foe, shutting out New Caledonia’s Zoe Letournelx, 6-0, 6-0.

In the semis, Minor was paired opposite another teammate, Apisah, who easily beat the CNMI netter in the first set, 6-1. But Minor refused to wave the white flag early, as she gave Apisah a run for her money before losing the second set, 6-7.

Minor was off-island for almost a month and returned to Saipan two weeks ago. She was also in Fiji in August and finished third in the girls’ 13-and-under age group.

The Grace Christian Academy is now preparing for tournaments in New Zealand in December.