Robbie Schorr survives scare

Robbie Schorr, seen here receiving a serve during his and Moris Villanueva’s doubles game against Vincent Tudela and Japan’s Kanata Abe in the 2017 Northern Marianas Juniors Championships at the Pacific Islands Club, is still unbeaten in the 2017 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Robbie Schorr battled back from an opening set loss to remain unbeaten in the boys U16 singles event of the 2017 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships.

Schorr bowed to Hirinaki Lo in the first set, 4-6, before sweeping the last two, 6-4, 6-1, to avoid the upset axe of the Tahiti player and improve his record to 2-0 in Group C of pool play yesterday in Fiji. With the tough victory, which came a day after the No. 3 Schorr got a free win over Guam’s Camden Camacho (forfeit), the CNMI player is now assured of a quarterfinal slot in the division. Schorr will go for a sweep in the pool play when he takes on Fiji’s Shantanu Shail (0-2).

Also moving to the Round of 8 in the boys U16 singles is Ken Song, despite losing to No. 1 seed Clement Mainguy in Group A. Song finished pool play with a 1-1 record with his victory recorded against the Cook Islands’ Elijah Amataiti last Monday, 6-1, 6-1.

The CNMI’s two other entries in the boys U16 singles dropped their Day 2 assignments with Vincent Tudela falling to No. 2 Jeremy Guines of Tahiti, 1-6, 0-6, and No. 4 Michael Ren losing to the unranked Kristen Pavitt of Samoa, 4-6, 1-6. Ren now has a 1-1 slate and needs to win against Vanuatu’s Marlin Hannam (2-0) in their Group D game to remain in contention for a slot to the quarterfinal round. Tudela, who has a 0-2 card, has been eliminated and will try to end his campaign on a positive note when he faces the Federated States of Micronesia’s Williams Joab, who is also winless in Group B.

In the girls U16 singles, two-time champion Carol Lee hammered Vanuatu’s Daisy Spiti, 6-0, 6-0, to earn a quarterfinal berth. Lee will duel Tonga’s Kava Taufa today to complete her Group A assignment. In Group D, Grace Choi failed to make it back-to-back after bowing to Tonga’s Peata Fatao, 1-6, 0-6. Choi is now pressed to pull off an upset over No. 3 Eleanor Schuster of Samoa to keep her quarterfinal hopes alive, while Malika Miyawaki must also prevail against No. 2 Naia Guitton of Tahiti to avoid elimination.

In the boys U14 singles, top seed Ji Min Woo moved a win away from a pool sweep after beating Vanuatu’s Warea Tigona, 6-2, 6-4. Woo, who is now in the quarterfinals, will go for victory No. 3 when he squares off against Tonga’s Christopher Maasi in Group A.

In Group B, Seung Jin Paik is still in the playoff race following a 6-1, 6-0 triumph over Guam’s Andrew Leng. Paik has a 1-1 record, tying the three other players in his group as No. 2 Maui Leflon, who lost to Leng in Day 1, fought back and topped Tahiti’s Meheannu Larson yesterday, 6-0, 2-6, 10-6.

Sean Lee is also in the fight for a quarterfinal ticket after his 6-1, 6-2 victory against Guam’s Thomas Ysrael. Lee (1-1) is in deadlock for second place with No. 4 and Tuvalu’s Kalese Kofe, who was stunned by unranked Tahiti player Manovai Elie (2-0), 6-3, 5-7, 13-11. The fourth CNMI bet in the boys U14 singles, Richard Steele, is out of contention after absorbing back-to-back losses. Steele will play his last game in Group C today against FSM’s Jerson Freddy.

In the girls U14 singles, siblings Coume and Conatsu Kaga marched into the quarterfinals.

Coume got her second win after downing Vanuatu’s Desiree Signo in Group D, 6-4, 6-1, to move into the next round. Conatsu joined her sister following a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over the Solomon Islands’ Prudence Bird in Group C, 6-1, 6-1. The older Kaga will go for a sweep when she faces FSM’s Anne Skilling today, while the No. 3 seed Conatsu will also gun for a perfect record when she duels Tahiti’s Kira Fong Loi.