Schorr retains boys U14 singles crown

Robbie Schorr makes a return to Aditya Rai during their quarterfinals game in the boys U14 singles event in the 7th Annual Tan Holdings Tennis Classic last Saturday at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan tennis courts.
(Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Robbie Schorr kept his boys U14 singles title in the 7th Annual Tan Holdings Tennis Classic after sweeping Ken Song, 6-1, 6-2, in the finals yesterday at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan tennis courts.

The top-ranked Schorr, who won the 2014 championship against Vincent Tudela, 6-0, 6-4, earned a chance to defend his division title this year after prevailing in his first two matches over the weekend. Last Saturday morning, he topped Aditya Rai, 6-0, 6-0, and in the afternoon he returned to the court to outclass Tony Kim, 7-6 (4), 6-1, in the semifinals of the upper half of the draw.

Kim made it to the semifinals following an impressive 6-0, 6-0 triumph over Guam’s Roman Merletti, while Rai advanced to the quarterfinals after ousting Allan Lee, 6-1, 6-1, in another top half of the draw bracket.

In the lower half, the second-ranked Song first defeated Sean Lee, 6-0, 6-1, and then swept Seung Jin Paik in the semis, 6-1, 6-0, to arrange a title showdown against Schorr. Lee and Paik, before losing to Song, won their first games against Jeffrey Seo, 6-3, 6-3, and A.J. Hudkins, 7-5, 6-1, respectively.

Paik then played in the battle for third place and fell to Kim, 3-8.

Paik is also entered in the boys U12 singles and was scheduled to duel No. 1 seed Ji Min Woo in the finals yesterday afternoon and results of their title match will be reported in Saipan Tribune later this week, along with the girl singles and the boys and girls doubles contests.

The second-ranked Paik book a finals berth after shutting down Min Jin Cho in the quarterfinals, 6-0, 6-0, and downing Daniel Kang in the semis, 6-2, 6-1. Kang and Cho made in to the Round of 8 following their victories against Seung Won Lee, 6-1, 6-0, and Miku Torres, 6-1, 6-0, respectively.

Woo set up a finals date against Paik after also notching two wins. His first was a 6-4, 6-0 triumph over Chris Kim, a 6-1, 2-6, 10-6 winner in the opening round against Richard Steele. The second was a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Merletti, who earlier eliminated Rintaro Miyawaki, 7-6 (6), 7-5.

Meanwhile, Anthony Gregoire joined the early champions list in the opening week of the annual tournament after ruling the round-robin boys U10 singles division.

Gregoire was unbeaten in three games to finish ahead of Andrew Chung, Min Gi Jung, and Akash Rai. Gregoire demolished Rai and Jung in similar scores, 8-0, and completed his perfect record with tough 9-7 win against Chung.

In the boys U16 singles, which also had a round-robin format, Michael Ren triumphed after beating Tony Kim, 6-3, 6-2, and Tudela, 6-4, 6-4. Tudela settled for the runner-up honors following a 6-1, 2-6, 10-8 win against Kim.