POJC opener halted by rain

Rain spoiled the opening day of the 2015 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships, as only a few matches were played yesterday at the Regional Training Center in Lautoka, Fiji.

Only some morning games in the U12 and U14 singles were completed, as intermittent rain greeted the CNMI-led North Pacific Team and the East and West squads in Day 1 of the annual competition and the opening ceremony was delayed by the uncooperative weather.

In the boys U12 singles, only the Group A first day matches finished, while Group B had only one done, and no games were played in Group C. The first match between the CNMI’s Seun Jin Paik against Guam’s Andrew Leng in Group B will be moved on a later date and instead the former will have his POJC debut today versus the second-ranked Sam Cribb of the Solomon Islands, weather permitting.

Paik’s fellow Commonwealth player, Ji Min Woo, will have his first game in Group C against the fourth-seeded Philip Warren of Samoa after the latter’s Day 1 tiff over No. 3 Maui Lefton of Fiji was rained-out.

The CNMI’s Jeff Race gives instructions to members of the North Pacific Team before the rain-delayed opening ceremony of the 2015 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships yesterday in Fiji. (Contributed Photo)

In Group A, all two opening day matches were completed with top-ranked Vaitea Molinier of Tahiti and Vanuatu’s Ware Tigona sweeping Samoa’s Corey Duseigneur, 6-0, 6-0, and the Federated States of Micronesia’s Jerson Freddy, 6-2, 6-2, respectively. Molinier’s teammate Elie Monovai was also victorious in Day 1 after blanking Leng, 6-0, 6-0.

In the girls U12 singles, the CNMI’s Coume Kaga fell to top seeded Eleanor Schuster of Samoa, 1-6, 0-6, in the opener in Group A, while Solomon Islands’ Prudence Bird won the other match in the pool against FSM’s Anne Skilling, 7-5, 6-4.

Coume’s older sister, Conatsu, had to wait for another day to play her first game in the POJC this year, as the latter will duel Vanuatu’s Desiree Signo today after her date with Samoa’s Leafine Cronin yesterday was reset. Cronin managed to play in Day 1, downing Signo, 6-1, 6-4. In Group C, Erica Tuttle also failed to see action yesterday and will have to play back-to-back matches today against American Samoa’s Jireh Warren and Fiji’s Saoirse Breen.

In the U14 division, only the boys played as five matches were completed before organizers called it a day. In Group A, top ranked Gillian Osmon of Tahiti dominated Vanuatu’s Marlin Hannamm 6-3, 6-1, while FSM’s William Joab defeated Fiji’s Shantanu Shail, 6-1, 6-2. There were also two matches in Group B with the second-seeded Clement Mainguy of Vanuatu shutting down Fiji’s Shabil Ajhmeer, 6-0, 6-0, and Tahiti’s Jeremy Guines outclassing the CNMI’s Vincent Tudela, 6-1, 6-1.

In Group C, the CNMI’s Robbie Schorr, who is ranked fourth in the division, had his first game match against Samoa’s Kristen Pavitt rescheduled. Schorr will have two matches today against Fiji’s Gavin Molotii and Armand Davias. Pavitt won the lone game played in Group B after sweeping Davias, 6-1, 6-0, while no match took place in Group D. The girls U14 and U16 singles divisions suffered the same fate.