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Minor, Miller to lead CNMI in NPQ
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Posted on May 15 2012
By Mark Rabago
Associate Editor
Associate Editor
Top junior netters Thea Minor and Christian Miller will lead the CNMI’s 27-player contingent to the 2012 International Tennis Federation North Pacific Qualifying Event set from June 11 to 15 at the Rick Ninete Tennis Center in Hagatna, Guam.
Minor will see action in the girls 18-and-under division and will be joined in the age group by older sister Theecel, Alina Ishikawa, and Melody Johnson.
Miller, for his part, will compete in the boys 18-and-under and will have Rafael Jones, Amami Sakano, and Jake Lee as company in Guam.
Minor and Miller won the girls and boys 18-and-under division, respectively, of the 2012 CNMI Junior Tennis Championships a couple of weeks ago. It was the fourth straight championship for Minor and the was the first for Miller.
The CNMI’s 15-and-under squad, meanwhile, will be top-billed by Christopher Cajigan and will also include Seiya Eda, Moris Villanueva, Dylan Ackerman, and Tommy Choi.
Making up the girls 15-and-under team are Mikayla Lopez, Negahr Rastguiy, Emily Jones, and Tammy Ackerman.
Cajigan and Lopez also won their age group in the recent CNMI Junior Tennis Championships.
Luther Lizama, Vincent Tudela, Robert Schorr, Michael Ren, and Michael Jones will make up the boys 12-and-under team, while Carol Lee, Isabel Heras, Julia Ishikawa Elizaveta Atalig, and Ami Tsukagoshi will compete in the girls 12-and-under.
The 27 players were chosen based on ranking points that the Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association kept tabs throughout the course of the year’s junior competitions.
NMITA president Jeff Race said the Top 2 players in the 18-and-under, Top 3 in the 15-and-under, and Top 4 in 12-and-under (maximum two players per country) will be invited to join the North Pacific Team for the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships to be held in Fiji in August.
Race added that Daniel Park, Carl Dela Cruz, Clayton Izuka, Alex Park, Steven Goodwin, Adele Hudkins, and Jodel Fernandez placed high enough in the rankings to qualify to compete and were invited to the NPQ in Guam, but are unable to attend because of previous commitments.
