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Youth netters take center stage in UMDA
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Posted on Apr 22 2005
The island’s top junior players will see action in the 2005 UMDA Junior Tennis Championship, which kicks off this morning at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.
Curiously, Nicolas Son finds himself seeded fourth in the same tournament he won last year. He will see action in the opening round of the boys’ 18-and-under division against last year’s girls’ 14-and-under champion Mayuko Arriola.
Taking the top seed in the age group is 2003 NMASA Male Student Athlete of the Year Ralph Buenaventura, while taking the next two spots are 2003 Suva South Pacific Games veteran Jung Mun Chung and 13-year-old sensation Ji Hoon Heo.
Four pairs will contest the boys’ 18-and-under doubles title with Son’s team up with Keith Gabaldon and Arriola and Johnny Johnson the top two seeds.
With Heo opting not to defend his boys’ 14-and-under title, the age group will be a wide-open field for the 12 players seeing action. Top seeds in the age group are Russelle Buenaventura, Dominic von Siebenthal, Philip Park, and Calvin Yang.
Five pairs, meanwhile, will contest the age group’s doubles division, which was won by Keenan Crone and Buenaventura last year.
With Arriola moving up, Audrey Motto, Lila Mailman, and Vivian Lee are the favorites in the girls’ 14-and-under division.
Joe Motto Jr., meanwhile, is the top seed in the boys’ 10-and-under division, which he lost last year to Tinian’s Benjie Decena. Out to challenge him are Rafael Jones, Angelo Jones, and Tatsu Gotanda.
Five doubles teams will then contest the boys’ 10-and-under doubles, which was won last year by Motto and Bradley Brostrom.
Like the girls’ 14-and-under, the girls’ 10-and-under division also has no returning champion as Kanani Ashraf relocated to Hawaii last year.
Six youngsters, led by sisters Thea and Theecel Minor, will try to succeed last year’s North Pacific Qualifying champ, while six pairs will duke it out in the doubles.
