Tuttle and company march on

The CNMI female players proved their mettle after marching into the quarterfinal round of the 2015 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships.

Ericka Tuttle, seen here getting ready to serve in a tournament late last year, redeemed herself in the playoff round of the girls U12 singles division of the 2015 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships after marching into the quarterfinals yesterday in Fiji. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Four of the Commonwealth’s nine players in the girls U12, U14, and U16 singles prevailed against their respective playoff opponents yesterday at the Regional Training Centre in Lautoka, Fiji, to bring the CNMI’s number of Round of 8 qualifiers to eight.

Erica Tuttle was among the latest addition to the quarterfinals cast, joining early qualifiers Conatsu Kaga, Carol Lee, Malika Miyawaki, and Tania Tan, who got byes in the opening playoff round. Tuttle stepped up big time as after dropping all her pool matches, she survived the Federated States of Micronesia’s Anne Skilling, 7-6 (12), 6-0, in their nearly two-hour game.

The tough win against Skilling gave Tuttle the right to face Conatsu in the quarterfinals of the lower half bracket. Incidentally, the CNMI’s third bet in the girls U12 singles and Conatsu’s sibling, Coume, is at the bottom half of the draw, too and could set up another all-Commonwealth semis duel if the younger Kaga wins in her Round of 8 tiff over Fiji’s Saoirse Breen. Coume barged into the quarterfinals following a 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory against Samoa’s Leafine Cronin.

In the girls U14 singles, the Jeff Race-coached CNMI Team will also have three entries in the quarterfinals with Mimi Sakano joining Tan and Miyawaki. Sakano eased past Solomon Islands’ Chrisma Au, 6-0, 6-1, to set up a quarterfinal date against the third-ranked Lea Lamorelle of Tahiti. A win over Lamorelle will pair Sakano opposite Tan in the semis provided the latter eliminate Vanuatu’s Daisy Spiti in the other match at the bottom half of the draw. Miyawaki is at the top half and will also meet a Vanuatu player in Rosalie Molballeh for the chance to challenge either the top-ranked Naia Guitton or Kiribati’s Caroline Mwang in the semis.

In the girls U16 singles, Isabel Heras gained her first victory in the tournament in a timely manner as the win moved her to the quarterfinal round. Heras, who lost all her three matches in pool play, swept American Samoa’s Michelle Miller, 6-1, 6-3, to arrange a Round of 8 showdown against the third-ranked Georjimah Row of the Solomon Islands. Only Heras and the top-seeded Lee survived the division playoffs as their teammate, Ami Tsukagoshi, fell to Fiji’s Ruby Coffin, 0-6, 0-6.

In the boys U14 singles, the Commonwealth crew is also down to two with fourth-ranked Robbie Schorr and Ken Song marching on.

Schorr cruised past Fiji’s Shabil Ajmeer, 6-0, 6-0, after only 43 minutes of play, while Song also shut down another Fiji player in Shantanu Shail. Song is at the top half of the draw and will next face Vanuatu’s Marlin Hannam for one of the two semis spots in his group. At the bottom half, Schorr will battle Kiribati’s Banien Ioera and another win will pair the former against either Jeremy Guines of Tahiti or Clement Mainguy of Vanuatu in the semifinals.

Still in the boys U14 singles results, Vincent Tudela missed joining Schorr and Song to the next round after losing to Samoa’s Kristen Pavitt, 3-6, 1-6. Ji Min Woo and Seung Jin Paik also bowed out of competition in the U12 singles after falling to Vanutua’s Ware Tigona, 6-7 (7), 2-6, and Fiji’s Kelese Kofe, 2-6, 3-6, respectively.

Doubles results
Tudela redeemed himself in the boys U14 doubles contest, as he partnered with FSM’s William Joab in sweeping Ioera and Fiji’s Gavin Molotii, 6-0, 6-1. The CNMI-FSM pair is in the semifinals and will face the top-ranked duo of Guines and Gillian Osmont of Tahiti for the finals berth at the upper half of the draw. At the lower half, Song and Schorr lost to the second-seeded tandem of Hannam and Mainguy in a thrilling three-set match, 6-2, 7-5, 9-11. Hannam and Mainguy will go up against Samoa’s John Quin Lim and Pavitt in the other semis pairing.

In the girls U14 doubles, all three CNMI players made it to the semifinals. Sakano teamed up with American Samoa’s Hanisi Ledua and they won against Molballeh and Spiti, 2-5 (retired), while Tan and Miyawaki got a bye in the opener to set a semis duel against American Samoa’s Crystal Christman and Mychealla Miller. Sakano and Ledua are paired against Guitton and Lamorelle.

In the girls U16, only Lee is in the Final Four as she and partner Ayana Rengiil of Palau also received a bye and marched into the semis against Fiji’s Coffin and Vienna Kumar, who eliminated Heras and Tsukagoshi, 3-6, 3-6.

In the girls U12, the Kaga sisters are also in the semis and will meet Cronin and American Samoa’s Jireh Warren. Tuttle along with Skilling bowed to Breen and Solomon Islands’ Zorika Morgan, 3-6, 3-6. In the boys division, Woo and Paik are out of contention, too, after a sorry loss to Kofe and Tigona, 2-6, 6-3, 2-10.