CNMI jr. players boost playoff bid

The CNMI’s Coume Kaga makes a backhand return to the Federate States of Micronesia’s Leilah Etscheit during their pool play game in the girls U12 singles event of the 2016 North Pacific Regional Championships yesterday at the Pacific Islands Club. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Come Kaga and a handful of CNMI junior players strengthened their playoff chances in their respective age groups after racking up victories on Day 2 of the 2016 North Pacific Regional Championships yesterday at the Pacific Islands Club and Kanoa Resort courts.

Kaga collected two more wins yesterday to hike her record to 3-0 for a share of the top spot in Group A of the girls U12 singles. Kaga posted similar 6-0, 6-0 triumphs over fellow CNMI player J.C. Ferrer and the Federate States of Micronesia’s Leilah Etscheit to join FSM’s Ridianne Wolphagen on the leaderboard in their group. The co-leaders will duel today to determine the No. 1 finisher in Group A.

In Group B, the Commonwealth’s Marielle Lopez and Anika Camacho own identical 1-2 slates for second place to remain in contention for the playoff berths. The Top 2 finishers in Groups A and B after the pool play will advance to the playoff round.

In the boys U12 singles, eight players will qualify to the next round or the Top 2 placers in the four groups. The CNMI’s Ji Min Woo, Seung Jin Paik, Rintaro Miyawaki, and Richard Steele are likely to make the grade.

Paik is unbeaten (3-0) in Group D after earning wins against Guam’s Sachdev Aarman, 6-1, 6-1,and Palau’s Ton Lomisang Perez, 6-2, 6-0, yesterday. Woo has the same clean slate (3-0) in Group C after sweeping Guam’s Jackson Jacob, 6-0, 6-0, and FSM’s Jones Neth George, 6-1, 6-2, on Day 2, while Miyawaki was the third CNMI player in the division (Group B) to register a 3-0 mark after adding his victory over compatriot Seung Won Lee, 6-0, 6-0, to his first two wins in the opening day. Steele, on the other hand, owns a 2-1 mark and is running second in Group A after a split on Day 2. The Mt. Carmel School student first bowed to pool leader Andew Leng of Guam, 3-6, 1-6, before beating the latter’s compatriot Thomas Ysreal, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 10-3.

In the girls U14 singles, the CNMI is likely to get all four semis berths in the division as Malika Miyawaki, Asia Raulerson, and Conatsu Kaga remained undefeated in the pool play. Malika is on top of Group A with her 2-0 record after prevailing against Guam’s Jocelyn Tenai, 6-1, 6-1. She will go for a pool sweep today when she faces FSM’s Anne Skilling (1-1). Another CNMI bet, Maria Gregoire (1-1) may join Miyawaki in the semis following her 4-6, 6-2, 11-9 triumph over Skilling. Gregoire will duel Tenai (0-2) today for her third and last pool play game.

In Group B, Conatsu’s twin wins on Day 2 against FSM’s Tatiana Panuelo , 6-1, 6-0, and fellow CNMI bet Riko Ojima, 6-0, 6-0, gave the former a perfect 3-0 mark and a share of the lead with Raulerson. Raulerson also tallied two victories yesterday, downing FSM’s Isabel Garcia first, 6-3, 6-0, before shutting down Panuelo, 6-0, 6-0. Conatsu and Raulerson will cross paths today for the top spot in their group.

In the boys U14 singles, which has a round-robin format and seven-man field, CNMI players occupy the Top 5 spots with No. 1 seed Robbie Schorr and No. 2 Tony Kim holding similar 2-0 records, Ken Song having a 2-1 mark, and Sam Ryu and Sean Lee earning a 1-1 and 1-2 slates, respectively. Guam’s Roman Merletti (1-2), and the CNMI’s Eugene Park (0-3) complete the field.

Kim got his second win after outclassing Lee yesterday, 6-2, 6-1, while Schorr kept his unblemished mark following a super tiebreaker third set triumph over Song, 5-7, 6-2, 10-8. Merletti played the third and last game in the division yesterday, prevailing against Park, 6-3, 6-3.

In the boys U16 singles, there were only two games played in the four-pool competition with the CNMI’s Vincent Tudela winning over Guam’s Malakooti Kian, 6-1, 6-0, and FSM’s Perilo Andre topping the host’s Jeffrey Seo, 6-1, 6-3. Tudela is unbeaten in two games and is likely to join Andre to the quarterfinal round. Michael Ren and Steven Goodwin, who have similar 1-1 marks in their respective groups, are the CNMI’s other bets in the division.

In the girls U16 singles, Mimi Sakano and Grace Choi are in contention for the semis berths. Choi leads Group A with her 2-0 record, getting another victory yesterday after pulling off an upset over FSM’s Sunshine Palik, 6-2, 6-4. Sakano, the second-ranked in the division, also has a 2-0 mark after a walkover win against FSM’s Chrisdela Esau.