Thea wins 4th straight girls U18 title

Thea Minor matched Kana Aikawa’s four straight CNMI Junior Tennis Championships girls 18-and-under singles championships last Sunday at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

The 16-year-old Saipan Southern High School student accomplished the feat after beating older sister Thecel in the finals, 6-0, 6-0.

With two years more of eligibility left, the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships veteran said it would be quite an accomplishment to win six straight CNMI Junior Tennis Championships.

Thea advanced to the finals after surprisingly getting a challenge from 15-and-under girls champion Mikayla Lopez, 6-1, 7-5. She got a bye in the first round.

Thecel, meanwhile, upended Amy Arenovski, 6-1, 6-0, in the opening round before entering the championship round with a walkover win over Melody Johnson.

An undefeated 3-0 win-loss record catapulted Lopez to the championship of the girls 15-and-under division.

Lopez first made quick work of Adele Hudkins, 6-1, 6-0, in the opening round. She was more impressive in her second round assignment when she skunked Emily Jones, 6-0, 6-0.

She then got a bit of a challenge from fellow POJC campaigner Negahr Rastuguiy, 6-0, 6-3, to take the girls U15 tiara.

In the girls 12-and-under, Carol Lee outlasted Isabel Heras in a highly competitive finals, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) to take home the championship.

Lee made it to the championship round following a 6-0, 6-1 semifinal win versus Liza Atalig. Before that, she hurdled Tania Tan, 6-0, 6-1, and had a bye in the first round.

After also getting a bye in the first round, Heras, for her part, defeated Grace Choi, 6-3, 6-3, and then barged into the finals with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Julia Ishikawa.

Malika Miyawaki dominated the girls 10-and-under division, losing only a grand total of three points in her run to the title.

She got a bye in the first round and then had a relatively easy 8-1 victory over Asia Raulerson.

Miyawaki then took the championship with a clinical 8-1 win over Catherine Atalig.

Atalig earned a spot in the finals with an 8-3 victory over Conatsu Kaga. She earlier beat Coume Kaga, 8-1, in the first round.

Results of the boys and girls doubles will be published in the Saipan Tribune later this week.

The 2012 CNMI Junior Tennis Championships was organized by the Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association with Angelo Jones serving as tournament director.

The top finishers in the season-ending youth tourney will get ranking points. These points will be compiled by NMITA and will help determine the CNMI’s representatives to the 2012 North Pacific Qualifying Tournament in Guam in June.

The Top 5 players in the ranking list in the U15 and U12 age groups and Top 4 in the U18 will earn slots on the team.