NMITA receives $2K from Tan Holdings Classic

  Proceeds from the 3rd Annual Tan Holdings Tennis Classic, amounting to $2,000 were donated to the Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association last Sunday during the awards presentation for the annual competition.

NMITA president Jeff Race received the donation from tournament directors Bobby Cruz and Lydia Tan in a turnover ceremony at the Hibiscus Hall of the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan.

“Every time you put together a competition that will move your sport forward, having sponsors like the Tan Siu Lin Foundation is a key part in ensuring its success. We are very thankful to the Tan Siu Lin Foundation for playing a role in helping NMITA become one of the best programs in the region by sponsoring tournaments for our players, especially for the young ones,” Race said in a telephone interview with Saipan Tribune yesterday.

Race added NMITA will be using the donation to pay some of the association’s obligations, such as its membership fee to the Oceania Tennis Federation. The NMITA head and CNMI national team coach also thanked Cruz and Tan for taking the lead in organizing the third edition of the Tan Holdings Classic.

“It was hard for first-timers to work things out for a big tournament like this, but they did a great job. I think they put in about 100 hours of volunteer work during the two-weekend competition,” Race added.

Tan and Cruz took over the organizing duties for the Tan Holdings Classic from Kirk and Carrie Schuler, who were in charge of the first two editions of the netfest before leaving the island in October this year.

As for the competition itself, Race was happy to see CNMI youth players continue to improve.

“Our players get better and better. In every tournament, I always see significant improvements from our players,” Race said.

The Commonwealth’s youth players showed some brilliance in adults and juniors competitions, giving their much tougher and older foes a run for their money. In the men’s open division, U18 player Rafael Jones made it all the way to the finals before losing to Micronesian Games gold medalist Todd Montgomery. Then there was Thea Minor’s victory in the male-dominated U18 field. The lone female competitor in the U18 singles won the championship against Jones. A few other junior players joined adults competitions (doubles and singles) and made it to the Top 3.