La Hunn bucks injury to advance to finals

La Hunn Lam, second from right, poses with other CNMI players and Guam’s Junhyuk Seo during a break in the 2023 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Lautoka, Fiji. (OTF)

La Hunn Lam fought through a painful ankle injury to advance to the finals of the boys 14 division of the 2023 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships yesterday in Lautoka, Fiji.

After rain wiped out the slate of games last Saturday and early Sunday morning, Lam finally saw action against Tahiti’s Toanui Lee Tham.

Lam and Tham were teammates in the  2023 ITF World Teams Competition Asia/Oceania Pre-Qualifying Events in Colombo, Sri Lanka last February.

Lam dominated the game early and often and was headed to an easy straight sets win—his fifth straight dominating performance in Fiji—when tragedy struck with him leading, 5-2, in the second set.

“La Hunn twisted his ankle so had to make a decision whether he plays or not…He will go play in the finals but not really in good condition because of his ankle,” said Lam’s mother Joo Lee in a social media message to the Saipan Tribune.

Lam won the game, 6-2, 6-2, against Tham but it’s anybody’s guess if his twisted ankle will be ready in time for the finals today.

Lee said his son immediately went to the physiology tent after his semifinals match to get some treatment.

CNMI Sports Hall of Famer Jeff Race, meanwhile, said Lam was about to be retired by the tourney physiotherapist before being prevailed upon by him and two other officials from the International Tennis Federation.

“At 6-2, 5-2, 0-15 La Hunn called for the physio because his ankle hurt. The physio told him he was retiring him. Two ITF reps and myself came on the court to discuss. La Hunn’s ankle was taped and he won four consecutive points to take the match. It’ll make a very big difference in the opportunities he will get in the next year by making the finals.”

Lam now faces Guam’s Junhyuk Seo after the No. 1 seed defeated Lam’s compatriot and doubles partner Nason Wessel, 6-2, 6-2, in the other semifinal pairing. 

Last Friday, Lam and Wessel tag-teamed to advance to the semifinals of the boys 14 doubles after thumping Papua New Guinea’s John Louie Domalaon and Solomon Islands’ John Kennedy Taufunu 6-2, 6-1.

In the other quarterfinals of the boys 14 doubles, Ryan Choi and Siwoo Lee advanced after defeating Tahiti’s Toanui Lee Tham and American Samoa’s Aifili Tamasoaali’L, 6-4, 6-4.

June Yu beat Luke Pierre of Cook Islands, 6-1, 6-4, in a fifth-eight playoff match in the boys 16.
Siwoo Lee got the better of Tahiti’s Matehau Sacault, 7-5, 6-2, in the boys 14 nine-16 semifinals.

Henry Seungwoo Choi lost to Federated States of Micronesia’s Erwin Tayshawn, 3-6, 4-6, in the other bracket of the boys 14 nine-16.

Hoo Wang lost to Papua New Guinea’s Pauline Hyun, 6-1, 6-0, in the girls 16 nine-16 playoffs.

Girls 16’s Irin Chung lost to Fiji’s Sina Izumi, 2-6, 4-6, in the playoffs for the ninth-16th spot.

In another playoff for the ninth-16th spot, this in the girls 14, Lina Tsukagoshi lost to Vanuatu’s Alisha Kanegai, 4-6, 2-6.

In the boys 16, Simon Tang finally hit paydirt by beating Samoa’s Titus Paul, 6-1, 6-1.

In the girls 14 quarterfinals, Anne Lee and Lina Tsukagoshi dropped a 3-6, 2-6 match against Vanuatu’s Alisha Kanegai and  Ashanti Ligo.

Aside from Race, Team NMI is accompanied by Colin Ramsey, the team’s assistant coach and currently No. 1 singles player in the islands.