Thea victorious in NZ debut

 CNMI junior tennis player Thea Minor moved closer to gaining Junior ITF ranking points after winning her debut in the Sunsmart 18 &  Under Summer Championships 2012 in New Zealand yesterday.

Minor played in the 64-player girls U18 singles draw and prevailed over the host’s Brogan Maoate in two sets at the hardcourt of  Ashburton Trust Tennis Centre in Ashburton. The Saipan Southern High School student pulled off a hard-earned 6-4 triumph in the  opening set and had another tough win against the home bet in the second set, 6-5, to advance to the second round and book her first Junior ITF victory.

The Commonwealth netter faces Mexico’s Carmen Araceli Cordoba in the Round of 32 today. Minor is the underdog in the second round match, as she will be facing a ranked opponent in Cordoba, who is seeded sixth in the tournament.

An upset over Cordoba will ensure Minor 10 Junior ITF points and will make her the first female player from the CNMI to earn ranking points. The Sunsmart tournament is a Grade 4 event under the Junior ITF Circuit, giving 40 ranking points to the champion, 30 to runner-up, 20 to semifinalists, 15 to quarterfinalists, and 10 to losers in the Round of 16.

Joining Minor in the second round were fellow Oceania ITF Touring Team members Annie Shannon and Tarani Kamoe of Fiji, Assya Trimari and Yaelle Honakoko of New Caledonia, and Marcia Tere-Apisah of Papua New Guinea. Shannon, Kamoe, and Tere-Apisah automatically marched into the second round as they were seeded No. 13, No. 9, and No. 2 and earned byes in the first round, while the two New Caledonia netters won their first round matches. Trimari topped New Zealand’s Courtney O’Callaghan, 6-3, 6-3, while Honakoko nailed similar 6-3, 6-3 victory over the host’s Michal Matson.

In the second round, Trimari is pitted against Kamoe, while Honakoko duels 11th seed Rheeya Doshi of Singapore. Other second round pairings include Shannon versus unranked Jessica Shaw of New Zealand and Tere-Apisah against another unseeded New Zealand player, Trixie Croad.

After the tournament in Ashburton, Minor and company have two more Junior ITF events left. She will participate in the New Zealand U18 ITF Summer Champs in Auckland from Jan. 29 to Feb. 8 and the Tennis Central U18 Junior ITF Tournament in Wellington from Feb. 7 to 11.