Lee clinches U14 crown in POJC

Carol Lee, seen here competing in the 2014 White Coconut Classic early this year at the AMP tennis courts, won the girls U14 singles crown in the 2014 Pacific Oceania Junior Championship in Fiji last Friday. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Lee was paired against New Caledonia’s Leo Bolo and won the battle of the Top 2 seeds in the division with a straight set victory, 6-0, 6-2. With Lee’s triumph, she gave the CNMI its lone gold medal in the singles play and duplicated her feat last year. Lee clinched the girls U12 singles last year and also handed the Commonwealth its only first place finish in the annual competition.

The 13-year-old Lee boosted her chances for a second age group championship in POJC after slipping past Fiji’s Ruby Coffin in the semifinals last Thursday, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. Bolo also defeated a Fijian bet in Vienna Kumar, 6-0, 6-2, to earn the right to face the top-ranked Lee. Coffin went on to win third place after sweeping Kumar in the consolation match, 6-1, 6-1.

Meanwhile, the 10 other CNMI players in the POJC also completed their singles games last Friday.

In the boys U14 singles, Luther Lizama settled for fourth place after dropping his consolation game to Tahiti’s Honoarii Joutain, 4-6, 0-6. American’s Samoa’s Larry Maglasan won the division after a 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 triumph over Samoa’s Michael Emery. Still in the U14 singles, girls division, Tania Tan beat Ami Tsukagoshi to place seventh, while the latter dropped to eighth, followed by Julia Ishikawa at ninth.

In the U12 singles, both Malika Miyawaki and Robbie Schorr fell to their respective opponents. Schorr fought Kitibati’s Banien Ioera in the third place match and was outclassed in three sets. Schorr prevailed in the opening set, 6-4, but Ioera won the last two to steal the victory, 7-6, 10-3. Tahiti’s Gillian Osmont topped the division after outlasting Vanuatu’s Clement Mainguy, 4-6, 6-3, 10-3, while the CNMI’s other bet in the division, Ken Song finished eight after losing to Fiji’s Maui Leflon, 4-6, 3-6.

In the girls U12 singles, Miyawaki missed the Top 3 after falling short against Samoa’s Eleanor Schuster, 7-5, 5-7, 5-10. Naia Guitton nailed the division crown after sweeping the all-Tahiti title match against Lea Lamorelle, 6-2, 6-2. The CNMI’s two other entries in the age group—Conatsu Kaga and Asia Raulerson—ended up at sixth and ninth place, respectively. Kaga dropped her last match against eventual fifth placer Rosalie Molballeh of Vanuaty, 4-6, 5-7, while Raulerson won over Fiji’s Saoirse Breen, 6-1, 6-1.

Colin Ramsey also prevailed in his last game in POJC, downing Fiji’s Shivneel Chan, 6-4, 6-3, to place 11th in the boys U16 singles.

Meanwhile, results of the overall championship have yet to be released. The 11 CNMI players were part of the North Pacific Team that competed against the West and East squads. The overall championship will be given to the group with the most points at the end of the singles and doubles competitions. Points are awarded based on how players finished in their respective events. The West delegates won last year’s championship.