4 CNMI jr. netters make semis

The CNMI’s U12 players are living up to expectations, as three marched into the semifinals of the 2011 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships after the completion of pool plays last Wednesday in Lautoka, Fiji.

Gaining semis tickets for the Commonwealth are Tammy Ackerman, Negahr Rastguiy, and Carl Dela Cruz. The trio advanced to the next round after winning their last pool game in Day 3 of the competition at the Regional Tennis Centre.

Rastguiy won over Samoa’s Lyla Tapusoa in Day 3, 6-2, 6-0, to finish the elimination round with a 3-1 record. She dropped her opening match against Ackerman in Pool B and then swept her Day 2 assignments after winning over the Cook Islands’ Kiana Sword-Tua, 6-1, 6-1, and stunning Fiji’s Mulan Kamoe, 6-4, 6-3.

Ackerman also ended Pool B with a 3-1 record after prevailing over Sword-Tua in Day 3, 6-0, 6-1. Ackermen won her first two matches in Day 1, beating Tapusoa, 6-0, 6-0, and Rastguiy, 5-7, 6-0, 6-3, but bowed to Kamoe in Day 2, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6.

At the end of the pool play, Ackerman, Rastguiy, and Kamoa were knotted for first place and the two CNMI junior netters won the tiebreak after getting the two best sets won/lost percentage.

In the semis, Ackerman was scheduled to meet Pool A top finisher Vinda Teally of Samoa yesterday. Teally was undefeated in pool play, sweeping her five games. The other semis pairing yesterday had Rastguiy facing Tahiti’s Kelani Chense, who finished second in Pool A with a 4-1 record. Winners in the two semis games will play in today’s U12 finals.

In the boys’ U12 division semis, Dela Cruz was set to duel Fiji’s Tieman Breen. Dela Cruz placed second in Pool A, finishing the elimination round with a 4-1 record. He notched a semis ticket after downing Samoa’s Harvey Cronin in Day 3, 6-2, 7-5.

The CNMI’s almost won another semis ticket when Moris Villanueva forced a tiebreak for first place in Pool B. Villanueva had a 4-1 record after sweeping his last three games, but lost the tiebreak to Breen and Tonga’s Teu Ki Tongi.

In the girls U15, Mikayla Lopez gave the Commonwealth its fourth semis berth after placing second in Pool B. Lopez won her two games in Day and then notched two more wins in Day 3. Her next two games were scheduled last Tuesday, but was rained-out. The diminutive CNMI netter was forced to play three matches last Wednesday and eventually lost her fifth game over Papua New Guinea’s Lorish Puluspene, 1-6, 2-6.

Lopez dropped to the No. 2 spot and was slated to challenge Pool A top finisher Alesi Molotii (5-0) of Tonga yesterday.

The other CNMI bet in the girls U15—Melody Johnson(2-3)—fell to fifth place in Pool A, losing in a three-way for third place.

In the boys division, Jake Lee and Christian Miller dropped their last games, but still made it to the quarterfinals. Lee (2-1) was scheduled to battle Pool A top finisher Heve Kelley (3-0) of Tahiti, while Miller met Pool B top placer Teba Tito of Kiribati.

In the U18 division, Thea Minor failed to advance to the semis and will be fighting for fifth to eighth place in the 10-team field. She had a 2-2 record in the elimination round and placed third in Pool A. Thea’s older sister, Theecel, fell to the last spot in Pool A and was hoping to break into the win column yesterday against Palau’s Abigail Gbewonyo.

In the boys’ division, Rafael Jones had a 3-2 record after Day 3 and still has a chance to finish in the Top 4 with two games left in the round-robin play.