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Negahr and Mikayla still alive in doubles
</a2There is no early exit for the CNMI’s Negahr Rastguiy and Mikayla Lopez this time.
The two Commonwealth bets, who were booted out in the first round of the singles competition in the 2014 IT&E Northern Marianas Junior Championships, soldiered on in the doubles event after winning their opening match yesterday at the Pacific Islands Club hard courts.
Lopez and Rastguiy swept Japan’s Haruka Okawara and Minor Otsuka, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the quarterfinals against another Japanese combo in Ayano Shimizu and Yuri Takanishi.
Lopez and Rastguit are seeded third in the doubles and are at the top half of the bracket, while Takanishi and Shimizu are unranked.
Joining the two pairs in the Round of 8’s upper half bracket were top seeds Kanako Ota and Nanaka Takeuchi and the unranked duo of Ayumi Hirata and Maria Dominique Ong.
Ong and Hirata blanked the CNMI’s Grace Choi and Julia Ishikawa, 6-0, 6-0, to arrange a quarterfinal duel against Ota and Takeuchi, who ousted Hong Kong’s Yuen Tung Liu and Japan’s Hikaru Sato, 7-6 (1), 6-3.
In the lower bracket, Tinglak Jittakoat and Gorbua Srisirisupayok of Thailand dominated the CNMI pair of Mimi Sakano and Ami Tsukagoshi, 6-2, 6-0. The Thai bets will face the CNMI’s Tammy Ackerman and Palau’s Ayana Rengiil in the quarterfinals. Ackerman and Rengiil also needed only two sets to beat Japan’s Yuna Fukumuro and Azusa Yasaki, 6-4, 6-3.
The two other opening round matches in the bottom half of the bracket ended after only two sets with the duos of Millie Khoury of Australia and Hong Kong’s Alvina Lai and Japan’s Asumi Kanazawa and Yuri Katano prevailing against separate foes. Khoury and Lai triumphed over Japan’s Maine Hiramatsu and India’s Nairuti Vyas, 6-0, 6-2, while Kanazawa and Katano downed Hong Kong’s Chak Lam Chan and Kwan Wun Man, 6-3, 6-0.
In the boys division, the CNMI’s Tommy Choi and Amami Sakano earned quarterfinals berth at the bottom half of the bracket, following a 6-4, 6-1 win over fellow CNMI bet Jake Lee and Japan’s Eikoh Hayashi. Choi and Sakano will go up against Hong Kong and third ranked Ching Lam and Jack Wong, who defeated Wai Leuk Alan Lee of Hong Kong and Thailand’s Itchya Meesommon, 6-1, 6-4.
In the other quarterfinal tiff at the bottom half of the bracket, the pair of Daisuke Sumizawa of Japan and Cheuk Yin Yuen of Hong Kong will challenge Australia’s Joshua Ecalnir and Chris Kafataris. The Aussies gained a quarterfinals berth after eliminating the CNMI’s Luther Lizama and Colin Ramsey, 6-1, 6-0, while Sumizawa and Yuen edged Australia’s Jesse Delaney and Hong Kong’s Ming Chun Alan Sou, 7-6 (4), 7-5.
Completing the Round of 8 qualifiers were top seeds Jack Barber and Chak Yin Chan, Steven Harianto Poedji and Yohang Sung, Benard Bruno Nkomba and Kody Pearson, and Taisei Miyamoto and Yuki Watanabe. Barber and Chan routed the CNMI’s Seiya Eda and Moris Villanueva, 6-0, 6-1, for a quarterfinals showdown against Peodji and Sung, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Chris Cajigan and Jerome Romualdez. Nkomba and Pearson also earned straight set win over Hong Kong’s Denton Ho and Ka Wui Wesley Law, 6-0, 6-3, for a Round of 8 date with Miyamoto and Watanabe, who demolished the CNMI’s Haruya Eda and Vincent Tudela, 6-0, 6-0.
