CNMI jr. netters leave for Fiji

The nine remaining CNMI junior tennis players competing in the 2011 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji left Saipan yesterday afternoon.

Carl Dela Cruz, Moris Villanueva, Negahr Rastguiy, Tammy Ackerman, Christian Miller, Jake Lee, Melody Johnson, Mikayla Lopez, and Theecel Minor boarded a connecting flight to Guam past 12pm, was expected to leave for Lautoka, Fiji at 9pm yesterday, and arrived at the host nation Saturday morning, two days before the competition kicks off at the Dr. Robin Mitchell Regional Tennis Centre.

The CNMI netters are joined by coach Jeff Race and they will be reunited in Fiji with teammates Thea Minor and Rafael Jones. The two U18 players left Saipan early last month to compete in a Junior ITF tournament in Fiji and stayed there for a series of training sessions while waiting for the start of the POJC.

The regional championships will run from Aug. 8 to 12 with players battling for the girls and boys U12, U15, and U18 crowns and the overall championship.

The CNMI-led North squad is the defending champion in the tournament after beating nine-time winner West team last year. The East squad finished third.

The Commonwealth gained 11 slots on the North squad after dominating the North Pacific Qualifying Tournament in Guam in June and Race hopes the CNMI’s strong showing in the NPQ will give his wards more confidence for the POJC.

“We played great tennis in Guam and let’s continue that in Fiji,” said Race during a trip briefing at the departure area of the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport.

Race during the briefing also handed medals to CNMI players who made it to the Top 4 of the NPQ.

Miller ruled the boys U15 division of the NPQ and in Fiji, he will try for the last time to finish in the No. 1 spot in the said age group. He made it to the semifinals last year and eventually finished third overall. Mikayla Lopez topped the girls division in NPQ and was sixth in her POJC debut last year, one notch behind Johnson. Lee also joined the U15 division in the POJC and finished fifth.

In the U18 division, Minor reigned in the NPQ this year and was seventh in POJC last year, while Jones placed 12th in the Fiji tournament last year.

Rastguiy gave the CNMI its best finish in the U12 division after taking the No. 3 spot, while Dela Cruz was ranked ninth.

Joining the CNMI netters on the North squad are are Guam’s Edward Chung, Camdyn Nadler, Emil Penafiel, and Gabrielle Tan, Palau’s Ayana Rengiil and Abigail Gbwenyo, and the Federated States of Micronesia’s Jenna Panuelo and T.J. Rush.