Lee, Schorr still unbeaten

The CNMI’s Carol Lee makes a return near the net while training at the OTF/ITF facility in Fiji early this month. (Oceania Tennis Federation)

Top-ranked Robbie Schorr and Carol Lee continued to live up to high expectations as they are still undefeated in the ongoing 2016 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Lautoka, Fiji.

Schorr swept his pool play games in Group 1 of the boys U14 singles to finish the preliminary round with a 5-0 record. The No. 1 seed in the division retained his clean slate after shutting down fellow CNMI player Sean Lee, 4-0, 4-0, yesterday.

Lee fell to a 3-2 mark for third place in Group 1 behind Vanuatu’s Samuel Strid (4-1) and Schorr and ahead of Tahiti’s Brendong Fong (2-3), Tonga’s Sigi Palelei (1-4), and American Samoa’s John Paul Lim (0-5).

In Group 2, the second-ranked Ken Song of the CNMI completed a sweep of his last four games after losing his first. Song got his fourth victory at the expense of Vanuatu’s Warea Tigo, 4-1, 2-4, 10-3, to place second in the pool behind Tahiti’s Vaitei Molinier (5-0).

Fiji’s Kalese Kofe (3-2), Shantanu SHail (1-4), and Avikash Kumar (0-5) and Tigona (2-3) completed Group 2 of the boys U14 singles, which will start its playoffs today. Schorr is pitted against Tigona at the upper half of the draw with the winner advancing to the semis against the victor of the match between Song and Lee. Other pairings are Kofe versus Strid and Fong against Molinier.

In the girls U16 singles, Lee is also unscathed after three games, extending her streak yesterday after another shutout win, 4-0, 4-0, over Samoa’s Maanaima Tausi. Lee, who blanked the Federated State of Micronesia’s Sunshein Palik on Day 2 and allowed only two points in Fiji’s Ruby Coffin in the opener, will go for a sweep in Group 1 today when she faces Vanuatu’s Daisy Sipiti.

In Group 2, Isabel Heras absorbed her first defeat after a 2-0 start as she bowed to Tahiti’s Naia Guitton, 1-4, 2-4, yesterday. Heras’ teammate Tania Tan, also played on Day 3 and forced the unbeaten Vienna Kumar of Fiji to a super-tiebreaker third set before losing, 1-4, 4-1, 8-10. Tan dropped to a 1-3 record for fourth place in the group standings, while Heras is at third with her 2-1 mark and will play Kumar (3-0) in the final pool play match today.

In other results, Coume Kaga won her last pool play match against Samoa’s Maria Kerslake, 4-2, 4-0, to rank third in Group 1 with her 3-2 record. Fiji’s Saoirse Breen (4-0) and Tahiti’s Kira Fong Loi (4-1) are in the Top 2 and will be joined by Conatsu and Vanuatu’s Naomi Sipiti in the playoffs.

In the girls U14 singles, Asia Raulerson and Malika Miyawaki are tied for second place in Group 2 as they finished Day 3 with similar 3-1 records. Miyawaki and Raulerson won over Kiribati’s Caroline Mwang, 4-1, 5-3, and Vanuatu’s Desiree Signo, 4-1, 4-0, respectively, yesterday to place second behind Tahiti’s Lea Lamorelle (4-0). The two CNMI bets are likely to advance to the playoffs regardless of the results of their last pool play games. Miyawaki challenges Lamorelle today, while Raulerson faces Mwang.

In Group 1, Maria Gregoire and Conatsu Kaga posted identical 2-2 marks for a tie for second to third place behind Samoa’s Eleanor Schuster (4-0) and Vanuatu’s Rosalie Molballeh. Gregoire came from a hard-earned 4-5 (5), 4-2, 10-8 win over Kiribati’s Rotuita Karatai to boost her playoff chances, while Conatsu bowed to Schuster, 0-4, 1-4.