Miyawaki zeroes in on singles crown

Malika Miyawaki, seen here playing in the White Coconut Tennis Classic early this year, zeroed in on the girls 16-and-under singles title in the 2017 North Pacific Regional Championships. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Malika Miyawaki won the all-CNMI game against Grace Choi, 6-0, 6-2, to virtually take the girls 16-and-under singles title in the 2017 North Pacific Regional Championships.

Miyawaki’s straight sets victory against Choi last Wednesday at the Tamuning courts in Guam gave the former a 4-0 record in the round-robin competition. She will go for a sweep today to officially win the division crown as she faces the Federated States of Micronesia’s Tatiana Panuelo (1-3). Choi is done in the singles play with her 4-1 record and had already secured the runner-up honors, as Guam’s Joycelyn Tenai and Anika Sachdev had only two wins apiece, going into today’s last set of matches.

In the girls 14-and-under singles, the CNMI’s Maria Gregoire is a win away from getting the division championship. Gregoire holds a perfect 4-0 record, entering today’s last game in round-robin play following her 6-4, 6-4 triumph against Guam Kaia Malakooti yesterday. Gregoire will meet FSM’s Anne Skilling for the title, as the latter also improved her record to 4-0 after beating compatriot Parie Panuelo yesterday, 6-1, 6-0.

In the boys 14-and-under singles, No. 1 seed Sean Lee is in the finals after dominating Guam’s Thomas Ysrale in the semis, 6-0, 6-0. Lee, who swept his five games in the pool play, stretched his streak to five after topping FSM’s Deavytn Etscheit in the quarterfinals, 6-0, 6-1, before ousting Ysrael to ease his way to the finals. In the championship game, Lee is paired against another Guam player in Andrew Leng, who foiled an all-CNMI finale after eliminating Richard Steele, 6-0, 6-3. The No. 4 seed Steele earlier outclassed fellow CNMI bet Sam Ryu, 7-5, 4-6, 10-6, to move into the semis against Leng.

Duplicating Lee’s final stint in the tournament was Michael Ren, who marched into the title match in the boys 16 and under singles following a 6-1, 6-2 win over FSM’s Joab William yesterday. Ren is unbeaten so far in the division as he swept the five games in the pool play and topped FSM’s Sterkis Abraham in the quarterfinals, 7-6 (8), 6-0.

Ren’s finals opponent is No. 1 seed Camden Camacho, who ousted the CNMI’s Vincent Tudela in the other semis game, 6-4, 6-1. Before bowing to Camacho, Tudelo beat fellow Commonwealth player Ken Song, 6-4, 6-4, to earn a Final Four berth. Camacho, on the other hand, whipped FSM’s Sarkau Weston Luckymis in their Round of 8 tiff, 6-1, 6-0.