La Hunn stays undefeated in Fiji

The CNMI’s La Hunn Lam, center, poses with the rest of the CNMI players seeing action in the 2023 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Lautoka, Fiji. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Three matches and three wins so far for the CNMI’s La Hunn Lam of the North Pacific Team in the 2023 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Lautoka, Fiji.

Seeing action in the boys 14 division, Lam won his third straight match yesterday after topping Tahiti’s Matehau Sacault, 6-1, 6-1.

Last Tuesday, he beat Solomon Islands’ John Kennedy Taufunu, 6-2, 6-1, for win No. 2 and on Monday he debuted with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Fiji’s Frank Sun.

Lam said he’s fortunate to be on a roll in his second go-around in the POJC.

“It feels awesome to be here participating in the Pacific Oceania Junior Championship in Fiji and keep winning,” he said.

So far, Lam has also been enjoying his experience outside the tennis court.

“Fiji is a friendly place and the competition has a lot of good players so it’s been a wonderful experience for me. It’s also exciting to make friends from other countries. I love to be here competing and making friends.”

Other results yesterday saw Nasson Wessel beat American Samoa’s Aaron Carruthers, 6-0, 6-0, in the boys 14. It’s his second straight win after beating Federated States of Micronesia’s Dontrick Daniel, 6-1, 4-6, 10-7, last Tuesday.

The CNMI’s La Hunn Lam in action in the 2023 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Lautoka, Fiji.(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Girls 14’s Anne Lee, who is the fourth seed, also won after stopping Guam’s Rachel San Augustine, 6-1, 6-0

In the girls 16, Irin Chung beat Amelie Terlaje, 6-0, 6-0, to make up for her loss to No. 2 Mehetia Boosie of Tahiti, 0-6, 2-6, last Tuesday.

Boys 14’s Siwoo Lee, meanwhile, lost to Papua New Guinea’s John Louie Domalaon, 4-6, 3-6, and girls 14’s Lina Tsukagoshi dropped a 2-6, 3-6 match to No. 1 seed Colita Hakena, also of PNG.

Boys 16’s Simon Tang also lost to No. 1 Hiva Kelley of Tahiti, 6-0, 6-2, and teammate June Yu was turned back by Fiji’s Devaansh Singh, 5-7, 4-6.

Hoo Wang also was beaten by Tahiti’s Tavero Chung, 3-6, 3-6, in the girls 16. Lastly, boys 16’s Henry Seungwoo Choi succumbed to No. 3 Jonathan Jackson of Guam, 6-3, 6-4.

In other results on Day 2 last Tuesday, June Yu dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision against second seed Fintan Molbaleh of Vanuatu; Hoo Wang lost a protracted match against Toaiva Busby of American Samoa, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; Siwoo Lee lost to No. 3 Toanui Lee Tham of Tahiti, 6-4, 6-0; Simon Tang was narrowly beaten by Fiji’s Ao Li, 2-6, 6-7; and Henry Seungwoo Cho was outdueled by Vanuatu’s Alessandro Traverso, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6.

In team competition, American Samoa’s girls 12 team swept the CNMI, 3-0.

Team CNMI, which plays as part of the North Pacific Team in the POJC, is coached by CNMI Sports Hall of Famer Jeff Race and Colin Ramsey, the current No. 1 singles player in the Commonwealth.