Ji Hoon knocked out in 1st round

Ji Hoon Heo bombed out in his first stint in the Land of the Rising Sun, losing in the opening round of the Hyogo International Junior Tournament 1 held at the Miki Disaster Management Park Beans Dome in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.

The 16-year-old Marianas High School student went up against Japan’s Shintaro Imai and lost 1-6, 3-6 in the competition’s first day last Thursday, Aug. 27.

“My expectation was try making it to the quarterfinals but I lost in the first round,” said Heo in an email to the Saipan Tribune.

Heo, who round up first runner-up of the boys’ 18-under of the 2008 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships earlier this month, said the competition in Hyogo was nothing he has ever seen before.

“Although this is a Grade 5 tournament, the level is similar to the Grade B2 in Fiji. In Fiji, only some players are good but here everyone is good,” he said.

While not one to make excuses about his performance, Heo however admitted that injuries that plagued him since the 2008 Open Junior BNP Paribas de Nouvelle Caledonie tournament still continue to bother him.

“I am doing fine except my legs feel like they are going to fall off. My ankles are better but they’re still a problem.”

The same ankle and leg injuries incidentally limited Heo in his championship match against good friend Lorenzo Pineda of Vanuatu in the 2008 POJC. He ultimately lost that one, 4-6, 2-6.

Heo arrived in Japan last Tuesday, Aug. 26, and started training right away, which was a tough grind considering he was coming off a 10-hour flight from Nadi, Fiji.

He said he is now focused in doing better in the second phase of the tournament, the Hyogo International Junior Tournament 2, scheduled from Sept. 3 to 7 in the same venue.

“I am right now preparing for the second tournament. Training is very hard. We run at 6:30 in the morning around the park ‘till 7am and do sprints and a lot of physical training. And then we hit about an hour from 8-9am. Its’ a bit hard to get courts. After the day, we come back at around 6pm. From 6-7:30pm we do running and physical training again. We do this every day. It’s really hard but hopefully it’ll pay off in the second tournament.”

The result of Heo and his partner Issei Okamura of Japan’s double match is still not available as of press time.