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Lopez, Rastguiy earn ranking points
Two CNMI players were awarded ITF Juniors ranking points at the conclusion of the 2015 IT&E Northern Marianas Junior Championships last week.
The CNMI’s Negahr Rastguiy stands by near the net, while teammate Nicole Tan makes a return during their first round match against Japan’s Yuna Fukumuro and Haruka Yoshino in the doubles event in the 2015 IT&E Northern Marianas Junior Championships last week at the Pacific Islands Club tennis courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
Mikayla Lopez got 20 points for making it to the semifinals of the singles event and quarterfinals of the doubles, while Negahr Rastguiy got 5 points for marching into the Round of 16, too, of the doubles competition.
In the singles event, Lopez received 15 ITF Juniors ranking points as her three wins in the main draw put her in the Final Four round. She eliminated No. 6 seed Sabrina May Woll of Hong Kong in the first round, 6-4, 6-4; outlasted Japan’s Makoto Ohara in the second, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1, and stunned the second-ranked Maria Dominique Ong of the Philippines in the third, 6-1, 6-0, to gain entry into the semifinals against eventual finalist and No. 3 seed Ayano Shimizu.
In the doubles, she and partner Ayana Rengiil of Palau eked out a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-1, (10-8) victory over Woll and Yuen Yung Liu to advance to the quarterfinals against eventual finalists Yuki Naito and Funa Kozaki of Japan.
With her Final Four finish in the singles event of this month’s tournament and quarterfinals stint in the double, Lopez moved up on the rankings list. From No. 2,076 (before the opening of the IT&E-sponsored event) she climbed to No. 1,381 (as of May 25, 2015).
Meanwhile, Rastguiy also won her opening match in the doubles with Singapore’s Nicole Tan to claim a Round of 8 berth and collect 5 ranking points. Rastguiy and Tan outclassed Japan’s Yuna Fukumuro and Haruka Yoshino, 6-3, 4-6, (10-6). With her 5 points in the doubles, Rastguiy took the No. 2,125 rankings.
Besides Rastguiy and Lopez, 17 other Commonwealth players joined the Grade 5 event, but missed ranking points after bowing out in the first round. In the boys division, the CNMI had Michael Ren, Luther Lizama, Tommy Choi, Ken Song, Haruya Eda, Robbie Schorr, Vincent Tudela, Steven Goodwin, and Clayton Izuka, while the girls roster had Tania Tan, Carol Lee, Julia Ishikawa, Isabel Heras, Ami Tsukagoshi, Mimi Sakano, Tammy Ackerman, and Malika Miyawaki.
