Doubles teams snag second place in Fiji

The NMI National Junior Tennis Team’s doubles players snagged second place in their respective divisions of the 2024 Pacific Oceania Junior Championship last Thursday in Lautoka, Fiji.

The tourney’s No. 2 seed in the 14U division, NMI’s Anne Lee and June Yu in the 16U division won second place after their doubles matchups with their partners from Guam.

Lee teamed up with Guam’s Faith Perera in the girls 14U doubles division and reached the finals.

The Micronesian junior netters faced off against junior players No. 1 seed Colita Hakena of Papua New Guinea and Tuvalu’s Alalilo Tepa. Hakena and Tepa started off the finals hot and overpowered Lee and Perera in the first set, 6-1.

Lee and Perera then doubled down in the second set to force a tie-breaking third set. While they were routed in the first, they got their rhythm and returns going to blast past Hakena and Tepa, 6-2. In the third set, the finals could’ve gone either way as both duos locked in and forced super tie breakers until the end. Ultimately, Hakena and Tepa got the better of Lee and Perera and won, 10-8.

In the 16U boys finals, Yu paired up with No. 2 seed Guam’s Junhyuk Kevin Seo and found themselves against Tahitians and No. 1 seed Hiva Kelley and Keanau Lei Foc.

The junior netters of Micronesia put up a valiant effort but succumbed to the Polynesian’s chemistry as they were overwhelmed, 3-6, 1-6.

In the other matches that day, for the battle for third place in the 16U girls doubles, NMI’s Irin Chung and Hoo Wang teamed up and faced off against PNG’s Pauline Hyun and Fiji’s Sina Izumi.

The NMI junior netters bounced back after a 2-6 first set loss and won the second, 6-4, to force a tie-breaker. In the final set, No. 2 seed Hyun and Izumi’s firepower held off Chung and Wang in the end, 10-6.

In the 14U girls’ battle for third place, Lee lost to Fiji’s Alexandria Chand, 2-6, 6-7. For the 16U girls doubles consolation finals, Hannah Chae and partner Leila Mercado from Guam took it to three long sets that lasted for an hour and a half. Ultimately, Samoa’s Toaiva Loto and Dora Moors won, 6-2, 2-6, 10-6.

For the 16U boys singles battle for 5th/6th place, the NMI’s Nason Wessel didn’t complete the match against Tahiti’s Mataihau Sacault, 3-6, 0-1; and in the 14U boys matchup for 7th/8th place, the NMI’s Ryan Choi was retired in his game against Guam’s Jacob Hsiao, 1-3.

The Junior Championship featured players from the NMI, American Samoa, Vanuatu, Guam, Samoa, Tahiti, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

The team’s head coach, Jeff Race, said of the junior netters’ performances, “I’m very happy for our players that reached the finals and won medals. We have a lot of things to work on going forward. These competitions are really important in identifying our team’s strengths and weaknesses.” He added, “I’d like to thank the players, parents, and coach Colin Ramsey for their teamwork over the last two weeks.”