CNMI junior tennis player Ji Hoon Heo had a tough assignment in the opening round of the 2009 Asian/Oceania Closed Championships as he faced Korea's top junior player yesterday.
Heo, who made it to the 64-man draw of the singles event, but was unseeded, was to collide against seventh-ranked Suk-Young Jeong in the first round at the Seogwipo Tennis Courts in Dongheung-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju-do. Results in the opening-round matches were unavailable at press time.
“There are a lot of players here who I think Ji Hoon could have beaten, but he had a tough draw and was playing the No. 7 seed (Jeong). He is Korea's top junior player, but hopefully Ji Hoon will play a good game against him,” Jeff Race said in an e-mail to Saipan Tribune yesterday.
Race is serving as coach to Heo and two other Pacific Oceania players, Samoa's Steffi Carruthers and Papua New Guinea's Abigal Tere-Apisah.
Jeong is only 15 years old, a right hander, and is ranked No. 94 in the world. He started playing tennis at the age of 11 and holds career records of 39-14 (singles) and 18-9 (doubles). This year, he has a 13-7 record in singles and 6-5 in doubles.
The Korean netter has earned 281.25 ranking points and gained his most ranking points (80) in the ITF/LTAT Junior Championships in Thailand in March this year after making it to the semifinals in the singles event.
He also advanced to the quarterfinals of the 20th Mitsubishi-Lancer International Juniors in the Philippines, won the Jeju International Junior Championships, was in the Round of 16 in Japan Open Junior Championships 2009, and made it to Round of 32 in the U.S. Open Junior Tennis Championships and the Canadian Open Junior Championships.
In doubles, Jeong was a semifinalist in the Jeju International Junior Championships, quarterfinalist in the ITF/LTAT Junior Championships, competed in Round of 16 in the Loy Yang Power Traralgon International and 20th Mitsubishi-Lancer International Juniors and advanced to Round of 32 in the 13th Sarawak Chief Minister's Cup-ITF World Junior Tennis Championships 2009 and U.S. Open Junior Tennis Championships.
Heo has career records of 5-18 (singles) and 7-18 (doubles). This year, the world No. 1,102-ranked Heo has so far posted a 4-10 slate in singles and 5-11 mark in doubles and has earned 22.5 Junior ITF ranking points.
The CNMI netter's best performance this year in the singles event was during the Air Pacific South Pacific Open Junior Championships in Fiji in June when he marched to the quarterfinals. In doubles, Heo was also a quarterfinalist in the Sunsmart 18 and Under Canterbury ITF Championships in New Zealand in January. In most tournaments, Heo was either in the Round of 32 or Round 16.
Heo and company arrived in Jeju-do on Saturday and on Sunday, the three Pacific Oceania bets trained at the facility.
“Yesterday while we were training it started to hail. The weather is really cold,” Race said.
Race added that the two female players of Pacific Oceania were also pitted against seeded foes. Tere-Apisah will duel New Zealand's top player and the tournament 11th seed Briar Preston, while Carruthers will challenge the No. 186 ranked Lee So-ra.
Home | Weather | Advertising | Classifieds | Subscription | Contact
Us | About Us | Archives
©2006 Saipan Tribune. All Rights Reserved
