Junior netters off to Lautoka

Five of the Commonwealth’s top junior netters flew to Fiji Thursday night in time for Monday’s start of the 2008 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Lautoka.

Leading the group is seven-time POJC campaigner Mayuko Arriola, who hopes to translate a good showing at the Robin Mitchell Regional Training Centre into an invite to University of Oregon’s tennis team.

“I hope I do well since I came pretty close last year. I just kind of broke down in the match that really counted and I wound up finishing sixth. That was the best out of all the years I’ve been there though,” she said in an interview with the Saipan Tribune.

The 18-year-old Dandan resident said although she’s the most seasoned CNMI netter in the POJC, going to Fiji has always been a challenge for her.

“It’s like my second home, but I think I just can’t seem to get over my nerves every time I go there. But now I feel more prepared because last year I was there for two months training and I became more comfortable. I really feel like I’m more prepared this year, so I hope I do very well.”

Arriola is tied with 16-year-old Marianas High School student Ji Hoon Heo with the most stints in the POJC.

Heo has been in Lautoka since June to prepare for the POJC and has participated in a couple of International Tennis Federation-sanctioned tourneys.

After Arriola and Heo, the player with the most POJC experience is Thea Minor of Grace Christian Academy, who already has competed there thrice.

Minor said she wants to improve, or at the least, duplicate her Top 4 showing in the 2007 POJC.

“I want to try harder and be into the Top 4 again so I could go to New Zealand. I’m really excited to go again. My preparation includes practice everyday after school,” said Minor, who has also been invited to play in two tournaments in New Caledonia after the POJC.

Christian Miller, meanwhile, is figuring in his second stint in Fiji. Like Minor, the Whispering Palms School student is also looking forward to travel to New Zealand.

“I think I will be able to get into the Top 4 this year since I have a little more experience. But I know it will really be a challenge. I’ve exercised to build up my stamina and worked on my shots. I joined also soccer to increase my endurance,” he said.

Rafael Jones and Dina Jones, who are unrelated, are the rookies of the bunch.

Rafael Jones, who goes to Saipan International School, said he is looking forward to his first POJC and appears ready to dispel his own myths about the competition.

“People tell me that players down there are pretty tall and pretty big. They don’t look like 12-and-under and more like 15 or 16. That’s why I’m nervous and at same time excited,” he said.

He said his training the past couple of months consist of playing at the American Memorial Park tennis courts as often as possible. It also incorporated sessions with coach Peter Loyola at Fiesta Resort and Spa Saipan.

“He’s really a good coach. He really taught me a lot and I owe a lot to him. My training is made up of playing twice a day, one hour in a the morning and another hour in the afternoon, five times a week.”

Dina Jones, for her part, is not giving herself a lot of pressure despite the tournament being her first POJC.

“It’s my first time. I haven’t really played tennis for a long time so I’m not expecting much I would just try to do my best and try hard and see where it takes me. I try to play as much tennis the past couple of months to prepare for Fiji,” she said.

Arriola, Minor, Miller, and the Jones kids will be accompanied in Fiji by longtime CNMI national tennis coach Jeff Race.