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Dateline: Palau and Japan
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Posted on Jul 30 2005
The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat were again in full display for contingents of the CNMI competing simultaneously in Palau and Japan last week.
In Koror, local swimmers have once again put the CNMI on the map of regional sports competition, having accounted for all 19 medals so far won by the delegation in the 2005 South Pacific Mini Games.
All 10 swimmers of coach Michael Stewart have medaled in the quadrennial event and entering Friday night’s finals, 16-year-old Nina Mosley has grabbed the only gold medal won by the Commonwealth.
Tennis also had a close brush with the bronze medal when Kana Aikawa and her roommate at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, Amanda Weindl gave Palau a run for its money, only to be defaulted on the rubber doubles after Weindl had to pull out on account of injury.
In Japan, the CNMI All-Stars needed the first three games to get their mojo in the 2005 Little League Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament held at Kitakyushi.
The Little Leaguers started the tournament on the wrong foot, losing to Guam on opening day Saturday. The Commonwealth got another shocker when they lost for the first time against the Philippines on Sunday, and then had their world go upside down when a much-improved Indonesian team beat them Monday.
The CNMI delegation got some consolation of sorts when they routed newcomer New Zealand on Tuesday, giving the team a 1-3 mark in the regionals, which incidentally was won by archrival Guam.
