Saipan Tribune

Monday, May 20, 2013

Monday, February 11, 2013

Ramsey, Villanueva complete semis cast

Colin Ramsey and Moris Villanueva cruised past their respective foes to march into the semifinals of the boys U15 singles division in the 2013 White Coconut Tennis Classic.

Ramsey shut out the debuting Seok Jun Yun, 8-0, last Saturday morning at the American Memorial Park tennis courts to set up a Final Four showdown with top seed Dylan Ackerman, who drew a bye last weekend.

Villanueva will play in the other Final Four pairing against Michael Ren after the former eased past Luther Lizama, 8-1, also last Saturday.

The semis cast in the girls U15 was also completed in Week 1 of the two-week competition with top-ranked Carol Lee leading the Final Four qualifiers. Lee blanked Julia Ishikawa, 8-0, to arrange a semis duel against Liza Atalig, who eliminated Ami Tsukagoshi, 8-5, in the other match in the top half of the draw.

In the lower half of the bracket, second seed Isabel Heras shut out another newcomer Zena Demapan, 8-0, to barge into the semifinals against Emily Jones. Jones recorded the toughest win in the draw last weekend after surviving Adele Hudkings, 9-8 (9-1).

Besides the U15 singles, games in the boys and girls U10 and U12 were also played last weekend.

In the girls U10, Jireh Warren routed Maria Gregore, 6-0, to clinch the first finals berth, while Ellie Epley notched the other finals seat after downing Erick Tuttle, 6-2.

In the girls U12, the Round of 8 was completed last Saturday with two players winning their first match in the draw. Asia Raulerson, who is playing in her first U12 game, had a rousing debut after pounding Ruth Park, 8-0. Raulerson was scheduled to face top seed Hannah Nelson in the upper bracket quarterfinals yesterday. Also set to square off in the quarters of the top half of the draw were Tania Tan and Coume Kaga, who drew byes last Saturday.

In the lower half of the U12 draw, Grace Choi advanced in the quarterfinals after ousting Conatsu Kaga, 8-3. Choi was slated to challenge second-ranked Mimi Sakano in the next round yesterday, while Catherine Atalig and Malika Miyawaki were set to collided in another quarterfinal pairing last Sunday.

In the boys U12, Kevin Kim and Michael Jones earned slots to the next round after winning separate matches last Saturday. Kim defeated A.J. Hudkins, 8-3, to force a quarterfinal tiff versus top seed Steven Goodwin, while Michael Jones slipped past Ken Song, 9-7, to set a date against second-ranked Robbie Schorr.

Meanwhile, matches in the mixed-up doubles were also played in Week 1 of the White Coconut Classic and their results along with the boys and girls U18 and boys U10's will be reported later this week.