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Race leads 1st week winners in Coconut Classic
Race
CNMI sports hall of famer Jeff Race advanced to the second round of the men’s singles in last weekend’s 2020 White-Coconut Classic at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.
The 59-year-old CNMI national tennis team coach beat Vicente Tudela in the opening round, 6-2, 6-1, to join five other players who advanced to the second round.
Also winning their first round assignments were Ji Hwan Ryu, No. 3 seed Ken Song, Colin Ramsey, Malika Miyawaki, and No. 3 seed T.J. Bellama.
Top seed Robbie Schorr and second seed Jimin Woo were given byes in the first round.
Ryu defeated Steven Goodwin, 6-2, 6-4. Song blanked Eugene Park, 6-0, 6-0. Ramsey got the better of Gerald Boyer, 6-2, 6-0. Bellama beat Sean Lee, 6-1, 6-0 and Miyawaki was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Daniel Kang.
In the women’s singles, Seon Hee Kim and Sarka Jambor are safely into the second round after beating Jinhui Jeong and Yuko Kumada, respectively.
Kim made quick work of Jeong, 6-0, 6-0, while Jambor had a slightly more difficult time disposing of Kumada 6-2, 6-3. Kim will face top seed Lydia Tan in the second round, while Jambor will square off against second seed Elizabeth Culp, also in the second round.
In the girls 14 division, Savita Sikkel will face top seed Helen Kim in the second round after defeating Seiyul Hong in the opening round, 6-1, 6-1. Kim got a free pass to the next round.
Hoo Hwang also made it out of the first round after a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Yebin Shin. No. 2 seed Serin Chung also booked a second round appearance after a dominating 6-0, 6-0 triumph against Seohee Lee.
In girls U12 age group, Jeong Bin Park got the better of Isa Nishitani, 6-2, 6-0, to advance. The other first round pairings between Lina Tsukagoshi and Hannah Chae and Ellie Cho and No. 2 seed Jieun Anna Kwon still has no results as of press time. Girls U12 top seed Irin Chung got a bye in the opening round
Results of the boys U16, U14, and U12 as well as the mixed-up doubles will be published in the next few days.
The Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association is organizing the 2020 White-Coconut Classic. For more information on the 2020 White-Coconut Classic, call tournament director Jeff Race at 483-5652 or email raceaces@yahoo.com.
