Song, 4 others earn sweeps

Five CNMI players finished pool play undefeated in their respective divisions in the 2015 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships.

Ken Song, seen here going for a return near the net, is unbeaten in pool play in the boys U14 singles division of the 2015 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Ken Song was among them as he capped his Group D matches in the boys U14 singles event with a 3-0 record. Song completed the sweep after downing Fiji’s Nakul Sachindra, 6-2, 6-0, yesterday at the Regional Training Center in Lautoka, Fiji. With his perfect record, Song is paired against a lowly ranked foe in Fiji’s Shantanu Shail in the playoffs. Shail was winless in three games in Pool A.

Duplicating Song’s sweep in the pool play were fellow U14 players Robbie Schorr and Tania Tan, U12’s Conatsu Kaga, and U16’s Carol Lee.

Lee went 3-0 following her twin wins in Day 3 of the competition. She topped Fiji’s Ruby Coffin, 6-0, 6-1, and shut down American Samoa’s Michele Miller, 6-0, 6-0, in Group A to earn an automatic quarterfinals berth in the girls U16 singles. The top-ranked Lee will face in the Round of 8 the winner in the first playoff match between Samoa’s Anasis Saipele and Guam’s Tara Lee in the upper half of the draw.

In the lower half, the CNMI’s Isabel Heras and Ami Tsukagoshi duel Miller and Coffin, respectively. Tsukagoshi made it to the win column in Group C after beating Lee, 6-3, 6-4, while Heras fell short in her Group B match over Fiji’s Vienna Kumar, 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, to drop to a 0-3 record.

In the girls U14, Tan was flawless, gaining her second and third wins in Group B yesterday after prevailing against Vanuatu’s Rosalie Molballeh, 7-5, 6-2, and American Samoa’s Hanisi Ledua, 6-0, 6-0. With her clean slate, Tan got an outright quarterfinals seat and will next face the winner in the playoff match between Vanuatu’s Daisy Spiti and American Samoa’s Mychealla Miller.

Malika Miyawaki also moved automatically to the quarterfinals after placing second in Group C with her 2-1 record. The fourth-ranked Miyawaki bagged her second win against Mychealla, 6-2, 6-2, but missed a sweep after bowing to the third-seeded Lea Lamorelle of Tahiti, 4-6, 6-7 (3). Mimi Sakano equaled Miyawaki’s record after splitting her Day 3 matches. Sakano first lost to the top-ranked Naia Guitton of Tahiti, 0-6, 0-6, before recovering with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Spiti. Sakano’s next opponent is Solomon Islands’ Chrisma Au.

Still in the U14 singles results, Schorr finished on top of Group C after dominating Samoa’s Kristen Pavitt, 6-1, 6-0, and will be paired against the winless Shabil Ajmeer of Fiji. Vincent Tudela, on the other hand, will collide against Pavitt, after the former dropped his last pool match against Vanuatu’s Clement Mainguy, 2-6, 0-6.

In the girls U12 singles, Conatsu got an immaculate record in Group B following her impressive 6-0, 6-0 win over Samoa’s Leafine Cronin. The unbeaten mark gave Conatsu an outright quarterfinals ticket and a possible date with fellow CNMI player Ericka Tuttle, who will face the Federated States of Micronesia’s Anne Skilling in the first round of the playoffs. Conatsu’s sibling, Coume, will be up against Cronin after the younger Kaga finished Group A with a 2-1 record. Coume ended pool play with a victory over Skilling, 6-1, 6-1.

In the boys U12 singles, both Ji Min Woo and Seung Jin Paik Paik and Ji Min Woo lost their last matches in pool play to remain winless in the tournament. Paik bowed to Guam’s Andrew Leng yesterday, 6-0, 6-2, and must beat Fiji’s Kelese Kofe today to avoid early elimination. Woo, who absorbed his third loss in as many games at the hands of Fiji’s Maui Leflon, 3-6, 2-6, is in the same must-win situation when he challenges Vanuatu’s Warea Tigona in the first round of the playoffs.

Meanwhile, doubles action in the three age groups will also begin today.