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Upset wins for Jim, Tsukagoshi
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Posted on Feb 14 2019
Takeru Jim, seen here serving during an earlier local tournament, made it to the semifinals of the boys U12 singles event of the 2019 White Coconut Tennis Classic last weekend at the American Memorial Park. (Contributed Photo)
Lina Tsukagoshi and Takeru Jim stunned their seeded opponents to make it to the semifinals of their respective singles events in the 2019 White Coconut Tennis Classic last weekend at the American Memorial Park.
The unranked Jim eked out a super-tiebreaker win over No. 2 Ji Houn Lee to notch a Final Four berth at the bottom half of the draw in the boys U12 singles event. Jim dropped the opening set, 4-6, but stole the victory when he swept the last two, 6-3, 10-7. With the upset, Jim set up a semis showdown against fellow unseeded player June Yu, who marched to the next round following a 6-0, 6-2 triumph over Ki Suk Lee.
In the other semis pairing, it will be the No. 1 seed Juncheol Hwang versus Wataru Kadokura. Hwang drew a bye in the opening week to automatically make it to the semifinals, while Kadokura barged into the Final Four after eliminating Vladimir Van Der Maas, 6-4, 6-3.
In the boys U10 singles, the unseeded Tsukagoshi joined No. 1 June Yu, June Lim, and Yutaka Kadokura in the semifinals.
Tsukagoshi clinched a Final Four seat after demolishing No. 2 Riku Takahashi, 6-0. The upset victory in last weekend’s game allowed Tsukagisho to arrange a Final Four duel against Kadokura, who labored through a 6-4 win over Eun Been Hwang. Yu, on the other hand, eased his way to the semis after getting a bye last week and he will face June Lim this weekend for one of the two finals tickets. Lim moved one victory away from marching into the finals after ousting Ki Won Lee, 6-4.
Meanwhile, the girls U12 singles event is also down to the last four players after two won their opening matches last weekend.
Hoo Wang bagged a semis slot following a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Ji Eun Kwon and the former will square off against No.1 Savita Sikkel, who got an outright Final Four berth after drawing a bye in the first round. No. 2 Irin Chung also had a bye to make it to the semis where she will take on Dain Lee, a 6-1, 6-1 winner against Anne Lee.
The semis matches in the girls U12 singles and boys U10 and U12, along with the other events in the Northern Marian Islands Tennis Association-sanctioned competition will be played this Saturday and Sunday, while the title matches are scheduled for Monday.
