Over 100 players for White Coconut Classic

  More than 100 players are entered in the 2012 White Coconut Tennis Classic, which will open Week 1 of the annual competition tomorrow at the American Memorial Park and Pacific Islands Club tennis courts.

The event’s signature division-the mixed up doubles-drew the most number of entries with 42 pairs. CNMI coach Jeff Race and junior player Michael Ren are seeded first in the upper half of the 64-player draw, while junior netters Carl Dela Cruz and Emily Jones lead the lower half of the field.

Only 11 matches in the mixed up doubles will be played on opening day, as 21 pairs drew byes in the first round. Competing at the kick-off day are Mark Blackburn and Daniel Lim vs. Christian Miller and Asia Raulerson at 2pm at AMP; Rafael Jones-Catherine vs. Theecel Minor-Satoshi Ohtsu at 5pm at AMP; Abe Malae-Ami Tsukagoshi vs Primo Po and Haruya Eda at 3:30pm at AMP; Mei Demapan-Sally Hwang vs. Gary Ramsey-Aditya Rai at 2pm at PIC;

Moris Villanueva-Clayton Izuka vs. Tommy Choi-Rob Schorr at 2pm at PIC; Angelo Jones-Ruth Park vs Alina Ishikawa-Liza Atalig at 5pm at AMP; Negahr Rastguiy-Eugene Park vs. Mikayla Lopez-A.J. Hudkins at 5pm at AMP; Kinumi Taniguchi-Malika Miyawaki vs Joy Minor-Vince Tudela at 3:30pm at AMP; Amami Sakano-Josh Abragan vs Nathan Nutting-Anna Calvert at 2pm at AMP; and Mihoko Tuttle-Gillian Villagomez vs. George Poquiz-Tony Atalig at 3:30pm at AMP.

Others scheduled to be played in Week 1 are the preliminary games in the men’s and women’s singles, men’s 40-and-above singles, boys and girls U18, U15, U12, and U10 singles, U10 co-ed singles (mini tennis), and the U10 mixed up doubles (mini tennis).

The girls U10 singles has eight entries in Miyawaki, Raulerson, Catherine Atalig, Calvert, Sakura Sato, Villagomez, Ruth Park, and Mimi Sakano, while the boys division has 11, including top seed Cole Chambers. Joining Chambers in the field are Logan Mister, Ken Song, Mondo Taniguchi, Kevin Kim, Schorr, A.J. Hudkins, Tony Atalig, Eugene Park, and Arbragan.

For the girls U12, Lee holds the top seeding and will be battling the crown against Hana Nelson, Hwang, Liza Atalig, Imaya, Tania Tan, Julia Ishikawa, Grace Choi, Tukagoshi, and Isabel Heras. The boys side will have Luther Lizama, Steven Goodwin, Peter Deng, Clayton Izuka, Tudela, Haruya Eda, Michael Jones, Ohtsu, and Alex Park.

The girls U15 singles has only four players-Rastguiy, Carol Lee, Adele Hudkins, and Emily Jones-and will have a round-robin format, while eight players will duke it out for the U15 boys plum. The list includes top-ranked Chris Cajigan, Ren, Dela Cruz, Dylan Ackerman, Aaron Lee, Seiya Eda, Colin Ramsey, Daniel Lim, and Villanueva.

The girls U18 singles will also implement a round-robin format, as only Theecel Minor, Amy Arenovski, Alina Ishikawa, and Jodel Fernandez are entered in the field. The boys side has more players with eight, led by siblings Rafael and Angelo Jones. Completing the list are R.J. Aquino, Lucas and Nathan Nutting, Miller, Jake Lee, Amami Sakano, and Daniel Park.

Some players in the girls U18 are also playing in the women’s singles with Lopez and Fernandez seeded first and second, respectively. Joining them are Demapan, Rastguiy, Eda and Kinumi Taniguchi. The men’s singles has a mixed of juniors and adults players in Race, Jake Lee, Daniel Park, Miller, Rai, Rafael Jones, Amami Sakano, and Bobby Cruz, while the men’s 40-and-above singles has only three players-Gary Ramsey, Mr. Nakajima, and Ken Imaya.