Saipan Tribune

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Cajigan in semis; 3 others enter quarters

Chris Cajigan is a win away from sweeping his pool assignment in the 2010 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships after booking two more wins in Fiji last Tuesday.

Cajigan, who started his title bid in the U12 division of the POJC with a 2-0 record, won back-to-back games anew in Day 2 of the tournament. He defeated Martin Duchnak of American Samoa in the morning match, 6-2, 6-2, and then topped Vanuatu's Liam Suttie in the afternoon, 6-1, 6-3, to remain undefeated in Pool A.

The second-seeded CNMI junior netter was closing out his elimination round assignment against top seed C.J. Beg of Fiji yesterday and results of the match were unavailable at press time. Win or lose, Cajigan is already assured of a semis seat in the boys U12 division.

Also getting slots to the next round were Christian Miller, Jake Lee, and Negahr Rastguiy.

Miller completed his Pool B assignment in the boys U14 division with a perfect 3-0 record to set a quarterfinal duel against Pool C second placer Kaito Fuji (1-1) of Palau.

Miller played his last game in the pool play last Tuesday and won against the Cook Islands' Roland Neururer, 6-2, 6-0. Miller, who is competing in the POJC for the fourth straight year, has yet to drop a game after two days of competition and is the top seed in Pool B.

Joining Miller in the quarterfinals of the U14 division was teammate Jake Lee, who finished Pool D with a 2-0 record. After beating teammate Angelo Jones, 6-2, 7-6, Lee downed top seed the Cook Islands Tamarua Payne, 7-5, 6-4, to advance to the quarterfinals against Pool A second placer Robin Morove of Papua New Guinea.

Duplicating Miller and Lee's feat was Rastguiy, who was seeded first in her group (Pool A) and drew a bye in the first round last Monday. She debuted in the POJC last Tuesday and swept her two games to make it to the quarterfinals of the girls U12 division.

In her first game, Rastguiy dominated Vinda Teally of the Solomon Islands, 6-3, 6-4. In her afternoon match, Rastguiy had a tougher time in beating Kiribati's Aresi Mwea, as the former needed three sets to nail a victory, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Rastguiy's quarterfinals foe is Samoa's Lolomamaiviti Ripley, who finished second in Pool B with a 1-1 record.

In the girls U14, Mikayla Lopez kept her semis bid alive after winning two games last Tuesday. Lopez, who split her first two games last Monday, prevailed over Samoa's Anastasi Tapusoa, 6-0, 6-0, and Mishaela Bonin, 6-1, 6-1, to improve to a 3-1 record in Pool A.

Lopez was scheduled to meet Guam's Chloe Gadsden (3-1) yesterday and a win will give the CNMI bet the No. 1 spot in Pool A and a semis seat. Lopez's lone loss in the tournament so far was against Papua New Guinea's Lorish Puluspene, 3-6, 1-6, last Monday, but in the same day, the former stunned Pool A top seed Assya Trimari of New Caledonia, 6-0, 6-1.

Still in the girls U14 division, Melody Johnson bounced back from a 0-2 start after sweeping her two games in Pool B last Tuesday. Johnson won over the Cook Islands' Taya Beddoes, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, and Tonga's Simoko Afemui, 6-2, 6-3. Johnson's last game was against PNG's Celeste Stapleton yesterday and even if the former wins her final match, the CNMI bet is already out of contention for a semis seat.

Also losing their chances to advance to the next round were Thea Minor and Rafael Jones in the U18 division, and Carl Dela Cruz in the U12.

The 14-year-old Minor dropped to a 2-2 record in Pool A of the girls U18 after another split in Day 2 of the tournament. Minor started Day 2 on a winning note after edging Fiji's Losana Vosa, 6-3, 6-4, but lost her afternoon game against top seed and PNG's Marcia Tere-Apisah, 3-6, 6-4, 0-6.

Rafael Jones, another 14-year-old CNMI netter competing in the U18, went 0-4 in Pool A after losing to Vanuatu's Gregory Jacobe, 1-6, 2-6 and New Caledonia's Julien Delaplane, 0-6, 0-6. Jones was hoping to enter the win column yesterday when he faced the Cook Island's Alex Beddoes.

Also holding a 0-4 record pending yesterday's game results was Dela Cruz, who dropped two more games last Tuesday. Dela Cruz bowed to the Federated States of Micronesia's T.J. Rush, 3-6, 3-6, and PNG's Matthew Stubbings, 5-7, 4-6, and the CNMI bet was playing Fiji's Krishan Raju in the final game in Pool B yesterday.