NMI sweeps gold in tennis events

MAJURO, Marshall Islands—The long days, back-to-back matches, and all the rain delays didn’t hamper the NMI National Tennis Team as they ended their long-winded tennis matches of the 2024 Micronesian Games with a sweep of gold in all events for a total of seven gold and two bronze over four days.

With the gold rush from tennis, the CNMI now has the all-time mark for most gold medals in any staging of the Micronesian Games after it currently sits with 68 gold medals. Guam held the previous record with 56 gold medals made in 1994 when it hosted the third edition of the Micro Games.

Aside from tennis, wrestling also added four gold medals to the bounty yesterday and Saturday and swimming with four more in the open water swim early Friday morning in Kwajalein.

Team Marianas also got five medals last Friday, including track star Tania Tan not only winning gold but also breaking the Micronesian Games’ 10,000m record at the Majuro Track and Field Stadium.

Simon Tang earned a silver in the men’s 110m hurdles, while Justin Camacho was bronze in the same event. Maria Quitugua also earned a bronze in the women’s 100m hurdles.

Yesterday, the NMI tennis team wrapped up the tourney with a sweep of gold in the individual matches even after a 2-hour rain delay at the USP Tennis Court and the NCD Tennis Court.

Due to the delay, all the medal rounds had to play short sets in order to finish up all the matches yesterday. When it finally got going late in the morning, the women’s singles finals was dominated by Isabel Heras. She blanked Pohnpei’s Leilah Etschait, 4-0, 4-0.

In the men’s singles finals, Robbie Schorr bagged the gold against Pohnpei’s T.J. Rush Apis who suffered a wrist injury during the match.

Then, it was another easy gold in the men’s doubles for Colin Ramsey and Schorr as they won via forfeit from injury to Apis and Tayshawn Erwin.

As for the women’s doubles finals for Heras and Hoo Wang, they had a tougher time against Pohnpei’s Leilah Etschait and Louisa Williams. They went for three tough sets, but bounced back in the end and won, 1-4, 5-3, 10-7.

The other gold medal came in the mixed doubles for Heras and Schorr, who beat Etschait and Erwin, 5-4, 4-1.

As for the bronze medals, one was won by Wang and Ramsey against Anne Skilling and Neth George Jones, 4-2, 4-1, in the mixed doubles. The other bronze was in the women’s singles for Irin Chung after she beat Pohnpei’s Movida Jerry, 4-2, 4-1.

Ramsey said of the competition, “It has been a crazy few days. Usually, tennis is the first to start and last to end, but with everything crammed into four days, we really had to push our bodies.” He added, “It’s been so nice having Robbie and Isabel playing on the team. They bring good energy and a high level. It’s inspiring for the young players on our team.”

As for Heras, she said the tournament “was really good, so I’m not used to it. I live in Denver so I’m used to hitting in indoor courts, so the heat really got the best of me, but my team and I really pushed through the heat, playing even six matches in a day. And, we got the gold, so I’m really proud of everyone and I’m really happy with the results as well.”

With her singles finals match that was delayed for two hours, she said, “We played the red courts which worked in my favor. The ball bounces much faster at you and that really helped me with my serve and forehand, so I won quite easily compared to my previous match with her. But I’m glad I played and learned a lot of things.”

As for representing the NMI, she said, “It’s always a pleasure to represent Saipan—I was born and raised there, so I’m really happy to play in the Mini Games and in the Micro Games—I always tell coach Jeff [Race], ‘call me, I always want to play. I’m always happy, and always excited to make [the CNMI] proud.’”

For Schorr, who flew in from Florida, he said, “It was a good tournament with a lot of good players and a lot of good matches. The level was high and it required a lot of fight and grit from myself and the NMI team.”

He added, “I definitely feel tired after a long four days of tennis but it was worth all the long days and hours in the sun. It was a really fun experience and I am very happy that I was able to be a part of it and win some gold for the NMI! I am very proud of our team for the fight and heart they showed on court and it’s an experience that I don’t think we will forget! I am always happy and honored to represent the NMI in the Games and will always look forward to participating in future Games. Go NMI!”

Wang, for her part in winning the women’s doubles with Heras, said, “I was very nervous. I was not doing great in the first set, and my back pain was killing me, but Isabel really helped me go through the second set really well. She’s such an idol—I really look up to her and she just locked us in until the third set and we were able to get the win.” For the opportunity to play in the Micro Games, she said, “I love this opportunity. I’ve met so many great people”.

As for Chung’s bronze, she said, “my match went pretty well. I think that was the best singles match I’ve played because I think I wasn’t as nervous today and I really tried my best just to control the point and I didn’t make a lot of mistakes today.” With the back-to-back matches, she said, “I’m really sore and the weather is crazy out here because it’s always raining, then it gets sunny, then it rains again, so it’s really humid and hot.”

Aside from the record-setting 68 gold medals, the NMI so far has also bagged 23 silver and 29 bronze for a total of 120 medals. Just four gold medals below the CNMI is Nauru with 64 gold, 30 silver, 7 bronze for a total of 101, while host Marshall Islands is in third place with a 34-32-43 gold-silver-bronze haul and 109 overall medals.

Palau (13-57-35), Pohnpei (12-24-31), Guam (8-8-8), Kiribati (3-6-10), Chuuk (1-9-7), Kosrae (0-1-11), and Yap (0-2-2) make up the rest of the medal tally heading to the final day of competition today.