Rousing start for CNMI jr. netters

The CNMI Junior Team dominated the opening games in the 2011 North Pacific Qualifying Tournament at the Rick Ninete Tennis Center in Guam on Monday.

Coach Jeff Race said the Commonwealth junior netters had a 26-6 record in Day 1 of the five-day competition, sending a strong signal to their foes that the CNMI bets are out to rule the NPQ anew.

“It was a very good first day. We started on the right track and we hope to keep the momentum in the last five days. Though we lost a couple of matches, those came from our players who challenged their fellow CNMI netters,” Race said in a telephone interview with Saipan Tribune on Monday night.

Race added that top-seeded CNMI netters delivered as expected in the opening day of the competition, boosting the Commonwealth’s chances of winning five of the six singles events in the NPQ.

In the U18 age group, No. 1-ranked Thea Minor swept Sophie Finnen of the Federated States of Micronesia, 6-2, 6-0. Seven players are entered in the girls U18 division, including Thea’s older sister, Theecel, who went 0-2 in Day 1. In the boys division, Rafael Jones is also seeded first and nailed a straight set win over Guam’s Alexander Ornbo, 6-3, 6-1.

In the girls U15, Mikayla Lopez and Alina Ishikawa had similar 2-0 slates in Pool A. Lopez shut out Guam’s Julianne Tapel, 6-0, 6-0, and FSM’s Danielle Adams, 6-0, 6-0. Ishikawa also needed only two sets in each match to beat Guam’s Alyssa Bristol, 6-1, 6-2, and Tapel, 6-0, 6-0. In Pool B, Melody Johnson was also undefeated in two games, prevailing over Guam’s Annette Kang, 6-3, 6-2, and Emanuelle Haurillon, 6-1, 6-0.

Christian Miller and Amami Sakano duplicated Johnson, Ishikawa, and Lopez’s feats. Miller is in Pool A and whipped teammate Seiya Eda, 6-1, 6-2, and Guam’s Jeremian Nelsen, 6-1, 6-0. Eda recovered with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Guam’s Ryan Freeman. In Pool B, Sakano blanked Guam’s Brian Tuncap, 6-0, 6-0, and FSM’s David Panuelo, 6-0, 6-0.

Also getting a 2-0 start in the boys U15 was Jake Lee, who downed teammate Chris Cajigan in their Pool B game, 6-3, 6-4, and Guam’s Andrew Chung, 6-0, 6-1. In Pool C, Angelo Jones split his two matches, losing to Guam’s David Okuhama first, 4-6, 5-7, before thumping Palau’s Jacob Spis Senior, 6-1, 6-2.

In the girls U12 division, defending champion Negahr Rastguiy swept her first two games. She won over FSM’s Jennia Panuelo, 6-0, 6-1, and teammate Emily Jones, 6-0, 6-1. Tammy Ackerman also had a 2-0 start in Day 1 after thwarting FSM’s Sunshein Palik, 6-2, 6-0, and teammate Carol Lee, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

In the boys U12, the CNMI went 4-for-6. Pool A top seed Carl Dela Cruz defeated Guam’s Arya Rahmani, 6-1, 6-0, and Pool B top pick Colin Ramsey downed Guam’s Camden Camacho, 6-0, 6-1. In Pool C, Moris Villanueva swept Guam’s Gabriel Tan, 6-2, 6-2, while Michael Ren defeated FSM’s Samuel Adams in Pool D, 6-1, 6-1. Michael Jones dropped his opening match in Pool B against Guam’s Edward Chung, 0-6, 2-6, while Luther Lizama also lost his debut in Pool B, bowing to top seed Derek Okuhama of Guam, 4-6, 0-6.