Carol delivers 2 titles to CNMI

Carol Lee makes a backhand return during an ITF Juniors event in Guam last year. Lee joined the 2017 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji last week and won the girls U16 singles and doubles (with Malika Miyawaki) titles. (Contributed Photo)

No. 1 seed Carol Lee did not disappoint, handing the CNMI two championships at the conclusion of the opening week of the 2016 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji last Saturday.

Lee first won the girls U16 singles crown after sweeping No. 2 and Tahiti’s Naia Guitton in the finals, 6-3, 6-1. Lee did not drop a single set en route to topping the division as she earlier walloped No. 3 and Samoa’s Eleanor Schuster in the semis, 6-0, 6-0, and defeated Tonga Brookie Maasi in the quarterfinals, 4-0, 4-1.

A few hours after conquering singles play and getting her third straight championship in the age group, the 15-year-old Lee returned to the court and teamed up with fellow CNMI player Malika Miyawaki. The Commonwealth duo went on to survive Guitton and Schuster in an extended finale, 6-2, 5-7, 10-5. Lee and Miyawaki moved into the title game after easing past Tonga’s Peta Fatai and Brookie Maasi, 4-0, 4-1. Schuster and Guitton also needed only two sets to eliminate Vanuatu’s Rosalie Molballeh and Daisy Sipiti and advance to the championship match, 4-1, 4-1.

In other results, the CNMI Junior National Team missed getting its third title in the POJC as sisters Conatsu and Coume Kaga lost their finals game in the girls U14 division. The Kaga siblings marched into the finale following a 4-1, 5-3 triumph over the Solomon Islands’ Prudence Bird and Zorika Morgan before bowing to Vanuatu’s Clara Cwajenbaum and Desiree Signo in the championship tiff, 1-4, 2-4. The eventual champions, earlier, outclassed Tonga’s Kira Fong Loi and Celina Snogan, 4-1, 4-2, to inch closer to the division title.

In the girls U14 singles, Conatsu made it to the podium after downing Samoa’s Penina Kamu in the battle for third place, 4-0, 4-2. No. 1 seed Cwajenbaum ruled the division following a 6-1, 6-0 victory over No. 2 and the Solomon Islands’ Zorika Morgan, who came from a tough 4-6, 6-4, 11-9 win over Conatsu to make it to the finals. Cwajenbaum had an easier semis victory after whipping Kamu in the other semis pairing, 6-0, 6-0.

In the boys U14 singles, Ji Min Woo also bagged third place after prevailing over fellow CNMI player Sean Lee in the consolation match, 5-3, 4-0. The No. 1 seed Woo was upset by the unranked Manovai Elie of Tahiti in the semis, 6-3, 7-5, while Lee fell to Tonga’s Christopher Maasi in the other Final Four pairing, 6-7, 1-6. Maasi went on to top the division after outlasting Elie in the finals, 6-3, 7-6(4), 10-7.

In the boys doubles, Lee barged into the finals after he and the Federated States of Micronesia’s Jerson Freddy stunned No. 1 seed Kelese Kofe of Tuvalu and Vanuatu’s Maui Leflon in the semis, 4-1, 1-4, 10-8. However, the CNMI-FSM pair fell short in their title match against the Tahiti duo of Elie and Mohearii Polin, 2-4, 5-4 (5), 1-10. In the third place game, Woo and Seung Jin Paik slipped past Kofe and Leflon, 4-1, 1-4, 12-10.

In the boys U16 division, Robbie Schorr finished third both in the singles and doubles competitions. He and Ken Song won the all-CNMI consolation game against Michael Ren and Vincent Tudela, 4-2, 4-0. Vanuatu’s Marlin Hannam and Clement Mainguy took the doubles crown following a 5-7, 6-4, 10-7 victory against Tahiti’s Jeremy Guines and Hirinaki Lo. In the singles, Schorr dominated Hannam, 4-0, 4-0, to join Guines and Mainguy in the Top 3. Guines pulled off an upset against the No. 1 Mainguy in the finals, 7-6 (6), 6-3.