Previous Story
Coume advances to doubles finals in Australia
Coume Kaga, seen here in action during a local tournament, made it to the finals of the 2017 Rod Laver Lead in Australia. (Contributed Photo)
The CNMI’s Coume Kaga marched into the title match in the girls U12 doubles event of the 2017 Rod Laver Lead.
Coume and her teammate Clara Cwajgenbaum of New Caledonia won their first four games to set up a finals showdown against No. 1 seed Arabella Barnett and Tianyu Dong of Australia. The No. 8 seed Coume and Cwajgenbaum were at the lower half of the draw and got their first win against Australia’s Ezara Alphonso and Joellah Wan, 6-1, 6-0, last Friday in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The CNMI-New Caledonia pair then eliminated another Aussie duo in Amelia Johnson and Piper Khouri, 6-3, 6-2, last Saturday to move into the quarterfinals.
In the Round of 8, Coume and Cwajgenbaum stunned the No. 2 seed Alessia Van Der Eerden and Elim Yan, also of Australia, 6-4, 6-3, to move one win away from clinching the division championship. Coume and Cwajgenbaum will go for the doubles crown today when they face Wan and Alphonso at 12pm. (Brisbane time). The No. 1 seed Aussies made it to the finals after prevailing against their compatriots and No. 4 Lili Fairclough and Rhea Makesar, 6-4. 6-2.
Meanwhile, Coume was also entered in the girls U12 singles event and had a 3-3 record in the competition. She dropped their first two matches, but won three of her last four in the consolation draw, beating Georgia Tan, 4-0, 5-4 (5), Kristanna Gjomakaj, 5-3, 1-4, 10-6, and Olivia Weatherall, 4-1, 5-3.
Coume is in Australia as part of the Pacific Oceania Touring Team. Also on the elite squad are Coume’s sister Conatsu and fellow CNMI players Ji Min Woo and Seung Jin Paik. Conatsu played in the U14 singles qualification and girls U14 doubles main draw. She earned a 2-2 record in the singles and was 1-3 in the doubles. Paik and Woo both played in the boys U14 singles and doubles, but results of their matches were unavailable at the tournament website. The four CNMI players traveled to Australia from Fiji where they have been training at the ITF/OTF regional facility since early this year.
