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Yu, Wessel win boys 14 doubles
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Posted on Sep 20 2022
Yu
The CNMI’s Nasson Wessel and June Yu beat compatriots Seung Woo Choi and La Hunn Lam in the boy 14 doubles championship, while Irin Chung salvaged third place in the girls 14 singles last Saturday in the 2022 Pacific Oceania Juniors Championship held in Lautoka, Fiji.
The courts of the Regional Tennis Centre were covered in NMI blue as Yu and Wessel faced off with Choi and Lam in three exciting sets. In the end, the former had the upper hand as they defeated the latter in a tiebreaking third set, 6-4, 7-6, 10-4.
The NMI faceoff in the finals came after Yu and Wessel defeated Darius Caruthers of Samoa and Keanu Lei Foc of Tahiti in three sets in the semifinals, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 last Friday. On the same day, Choi and Lam defeated Hiva Kelly and Toanui Lee Tham in two sets, 6-0, 6-2.
Over in the girls 14 singles championship, Chung defeated Toaiva Busby of Samoa in two sets, 6-1, 6-3, to claim third place.
“Irin’s result is all the more notable because she failed to qualify for the competition at the regional tournament in Guam last July when she was upset by teammate Hoo Wang,” said head coach Jeff Race.
Wessel
Chung made it to the finals after defeating Raetea Rongo of Cook Islands in two sets, 6-1, 6-3, last Thursday.
Prior to the 2022 POJC, Irin and Yu, both the CNMI’s top-ranked 14-year-olds in the sport, were upset by their teammates and missed the Top 4 in the recent 2022 Northern Pacific Regional Championships in Guam, but made the cut to Fiji after being granted wildcard entries by the Oceania Tennis Federation last month.
The 2022 POJC marked both Yu’s and Irin’s debut in the regional tournament for juniors.
Other NMI netter that saw action in Fiji were boys 16-and-under’s Minsoo “David” Kwon, girls 16’s Serin Chung and Savita Sikkel, boys 14’s Siwoo Lee, girls 14’s Hoo Wang, Hannah Chae, and Anna Kwon, boys 12’s Yutaka Kadokura, Ian Chae, Ryan Choi, and Jihun Park, and girls 12’s Lina Tsukagoshi.
The CNMI junior netters were coached by CNMI sports hall of famer and Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Federation president Jeff Race.
