CNMI sweeps U12; Tan triumphs

Members of the CNMI Junior Tennis Team pose with their medals during the awards ceremony for the 2014 North Pacific Regional Championships in Guam last Saturday. (Contributed Photo)

The Commonwealth bets notched three out of the six singles titles at the conclusion of the regional tournament last Saturday with Robbie Schorr and Malika Miyawaki ruling the U12 singles division and Tania Tan prevailing in the girls U14 age group.

Schorr won the all-CNMI finals in the boys U12 division after outclassing Ken Song, 6-3, 6-0. The title victory was a big one for the 11-year-old Schorr, as he fell short in his bid last year when he bowed to fellow CNMI player Michael Ren in the finals. Schorr advanced to the finals after eliminating CNMI teammate Aditya Rai in the semis, 6-1, 6-1, while Song defeated Guam’s Andrew Leng in the other Final Four pairing, 6-4, 6-1. Leng latest downed Rai in the battle for third place,6-2, 6-4.

In the girls U12, Miyawaki lorded it over in the all-CNMI playoff round. Miyawaki clinched the division singles tiara after a 6-4, 6-4 win against Conatsu Kaga. The victory was a huge lift for Miyawaki after she finished only third last year. The newly crowned champion made it to the finals after downing teammate Asia Raulerson in the semis, 6-0, 6-1, while the runner-up Kaga ousted another CNMI player Jireh Warren, 6-2, 6-0. Raulerson rounded out the Top 3 after a 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over Warren in the consolation match.

The girls U14 singles division was also a stamping ground for the Jeff Race-coached CNMI Team with Tan winning over three other teammates. Tan bagged the singles championship after a 7-5, 6-2 win over Julia Ishikawa in last Saturday’s title game. Tan barged into the finals, following a shutout victory over Mimi Sakano, while Ishikawa took the other finals seat after a 6-1, 6-3 win over Ami Tsukagoshi. Tsukagoshi settled for a third-place finish, following a 6-4, 7-6(1) triumph over Sakano.

Luther Lizama also made it to the podium in the boys U14 singles after defeating the Federated States of Micronesian’s William Joab, 6-3, 6-2. Lizama missed a finals appearance in the division after bowing to the top-ranked Mason Caldwell of Guam in three hard-fought sets in the semifinals last Friday. Caldwell won the first set, 6-4, but Lizama came back in the second with a 6-2 triumph to force a rubber match. Caldwell went on to win the battle between the Top 2 players in the division with a 6-2 victory in the deciding third set. The Guam bet also needed three sets to win the championship against compatriot Camden Camacho, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.

In the boys U16 singles finals, Colin Ramsey faced former CNMI teammate Chris Cajigan with the latter winning for the host team, 6-2, 6-1. Ramsey marched into the finals after stunning the second-ranked Brian Tuncap Jr. of Guam in a three-set semis tiff last Friday. The second-seeded Ramsey dropped the closely fought opening set, 5-7, before sweeping the last two, 6-2, 6-4, to nail the finals berth at the top half of the bracket. At the bottom half, Cajigan cruised past the unranked Sydney Gadsden of Guam 6-0, 6-4. Tuncap joined Cajigan and Ramsey in the Top e after beating Gadsden, 6-2, 6-3.

Meanwhile, results of the doubles events will be reported in Saipan Tribune’s Tuesday edition.