Lam tops boys 16 in Tan Holdings Tennis Classic

Lam

Unseeded La Hunn Lam beat players as much as four years older than him in ruling the 2022 Tan Holdings Tennis Classic over the weekend at the Crowne Plaza Saipan tennis courts.

The 12-year-old, who last July became the youngest player to see action in Wimbledon, beat top seed David Kwon in the finals last Sunday, 6-1, 6-2, to take home the boys 16 tennis crown.

“I am happy and grateful to win a trophy in the Tan Holdings Tennis Classic. It’s amazing and challenging to play matches against good players in under 16. It means a lot to me, thank you very much to coach Jeff [Race] who helps me to improve my games. Also thanks to all my friends, Henry, David, Hye Jin, Tomas, and June who’ve  been playing practice matches with me. It’s been a great couple of months to have all these opportunities and make a lot of awesome memories on Saipan,” he said.

Lam, who resides in Mallorca, Spain but is on Saipan to train and represent the CNMI, defeated No. 2 Cody Shimizu in the second round, 6-2, 6-2, after a bye in the opening round.

The ​​boys 14-and-under champion of the 2022 North Pacific Regional Championships in Guam then barged into the semifinals following a 6-1, 6-3 win over fourth seed Simon Tang.

Kwon, meanwhile, also got a bye in the first round before blanking Jack Lindin, 6-0, 6-0, in the second round. He then upended fourth seed June Yu, 7-5, 6-3, in the Final Four to earn the right to face Lam in the championship round.

In the boys 14, Si Woo Lee lived up to his No. 1 seeding by topping the age group.

Lee started the tourney with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Matthew Hwang. He followed that up with a hard-earned 6-4, 6-7(4), 10-7 win over third seed Tarhir Sharkir. He then overcame Ryan Choi, 6-2, 6-1, to win the championship.

No. 2 seed Jinho Cody Park, meanwhile, beat No. 3 seed Michael Min Joon Jeon, 6-2, 6-2, to reign supreme in the boys 12.

Park debuted strong in his first assignment after dropping  James Zhang Xiong, 6-2, 6-1. He  then literally had a walk in the park against No. 1 seed Eamon Gani Tang after the latter failed to show up in their match. Park capped the tourney with the aforementioned win over Jeon.

In the boys 10, Seung Woo Lee beat both his opponents in the three-player age group. He first defeated Jackson Koning-Fong, 6-0, then won over Cooper Koning-Fong, 6-2, to claim the division.

Results of the girls division and boys 16 doubles will be published in tomorrow’s issue of Saipan Tribune.