Ren leads boys U16 rankings

Michael Ren makes a return from the baseline during his and Tony Kim’s double match against Steven Goodwin and Vincent Tudela in the 2016 CNMI Junior Tennis Championships last Sunday at the American Memorial Park tennis courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Michael Ren is among the leaders in the CNMI junior tennis rankings released by Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association prior to the last ranking tournament of the group for the 2015-2016 season.

Ren is on top of the boys U16 leaderboard, having earned 2,600 points from three competitions. He got 1,000 in the 7th Tan Holdings Tennis Classic in November last year, 600 in the Coconut Tennis Classic in February, and 750 and 250 in the singles and doubles events in the Pacific Islands Club Tennis Championships in March.

The 15-year-old Ren is ahead of Robbie Schorr (1,950), Ken Song (1,800), Tony Kim (1,750), Vincent Tudela (1,650), Moris Villanueva (1,000), Steven Goodwin (650), Colin Ramsey (500), and A.J. Hudkins (150).

It is likely that Ren will keep the top spot in the boys U16 division, as the final ranking tournament—the ongoing CNMI Junior Tennis Championships—did not have a competition for U16 singles and doubles.

Majority of the boys U16 players are seeing action in the U18 singles with Villanueva, Tudela, Kim, and Schorr earning semis seats after surviving last weekend’s matches.

The four semifinalists could break into the U18 division rankings, which currently has Carol Lee as the leader with her 1,000 points. Luther Lizama and Ramsey, who missed last weekend’s games, are in second and third spot with their 750 and 600 ranking points, respectively.

In the other divisions, Ji Min Woo and Seung Jin Paik are ahead in the boys U14, while Daniel Kang and Andrew Chung are the pacesetters in the U12 and U10 age groups.

Woo and Paik have similar 2,000 ranking points to lead 19 others, while Kang has 2,350 points to place ahead of the former (2,250). Richard Steele is in third place in the boys U12 division after getting 2,038 points from the three tournaments. Chung collected 1,750 points from two competitions to lead Min Gi Jung (1,350), Anthony Gregoire (1,000), Hyun Jin Joo (600), and Akash Rai (500).

In the girls division, the current leaders are U16’s Tania Tan (2,500), U14’s Malika Miyawaki (2,250), U12’s Coume Kaga (2,250), and U10’s Anika Camacho (1,000).

The rankings in the U16, U14, and U12 age groups are important as they will determine the players’ chances of making it to the CNMI Junior National Team that will compete in the 2016 North Pacific Regional Championships, which Saipan will be hosting in June.