NMI junior netters notch wins in Fiji

After the gold rush by the NMI National Tennis Team in the 10th Micronesian Games, junior netters are gearing up for another big stage—the 2024 Pacific Oceania Junior Championship in Lautoka, Fiji.

NMI junior netters stormed the courts on Day 1 yesterday, with wins in eight matches in the tournament that features other players from American Samoa, Vanuatu, Guam, Samoa, Tahiti, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Hoo Wang—who bagged gold in the women’s doubles with Isabel Heras and in the team matches during the Micro Games in the Marshall Islands just over a week ago—came into this tourney with momentum that propelled her to her first win.

She won over Solomon Islands’ Margaret Agi Lewa in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 10-4.

“My comeback tactic was just to have fun in the second set. I have learned a lot from the Micro Games to just have fun in my matches and to always stay positive. I’m very happy with my win and I’m looking forward to play some more good tennis in the following weeks,” she said.

The next win for NMI was by Si Woo Lee—also a gold medalist in the Micro Games. He bested Bing Low from Fiji, 6-4, 6-2.

Then, June Yu won two matches. He first crushed Fiji’s Tyrone Speed, 6-0, 6-1, then defeated Samoa’s Darius Carruthers, 6-3, 6-4.

La Hunn Lam then took on teammate Henry Choi and won, 6-0, 6-1; Ryan Choi put up a good fight in three sets against Vanuatu’s Gabriele Wong, 6-4, 0-6, 10-6; Anne Lee overpowered Fiji’s Elizabeth Qaqaturagu, 6-1, 6-0; and Nason Wessel trounced Fiji’s Deevansh Singh, 6-0, 6-4.

In NMI’s age 16 roster are Lam, Wessel, Siwoo, Henry, Yu, Wang, Irin Chung, and Hannah Chae. The aged 14 group includes Ryan, Ian Chae, and Anne; the aged 12 group consists of Michael Jeon, Daniel Kang, Matt Zhu, Stella Choi, Emma Lang, and Selina Chi.

In the age 14 results, Ryan Choi defeated Vanauty’s Gabriele Wong, 4-6, 6-0, while Ian and Hannah Chae and Irin Chung lost their debuts.

Ian Chae lost to Tahiti’s Guilhem Pendu, 1-6, 0-6; Chung was downed by Guam’s Leila Mercado, 6-7, 1-6; and Hannah Chae dropped 0-6, 1-6 loss against Tahitu’s Mia Chang Yuk Shan.

In the age 12 results, assistant coach Colin Ramsey provided an update.

“Our 12s girls cruised to a win today. Stella took her singles 6-1 6-1 and Emma followed with a 6-2 6-2 win. The boys had a tougher route, losing both singles matches. Michael lost the first set 1-6 and fought back to win the second set 6-3. A close super tiebreak that went the way of George from Fiji 8-10. Matt Zhu played in the No. 2 singles today and lost a close 5-7, 3-6 match to the second ranked Fiji 12’s player,” he said.

Head coach Jeff Race, in an interview yesterday about how the team was settling in, said that they had issues on their first night as the Airbnb that they booked turned out not to be available. Fortunately, they found another apartment.

“Our players are staying in three different locations so logistics are difficult. But we had two days and nights to recover from travel and we are having a pretty successful first day today (yesterday),” he said.

As for the courts and conditions, he said, “The courts here are not great but okay. Unfortunately, our 12s teams are competing about 20 miles away at the Nadi Sports Club. Colin Ramsey is there with the 12s and doing a great job.”

When asked how he’s feeling about the players; performance ahead of their first games, he said, “Of our Micro Games players Hoo Wang had a good performance today and appears to have improved her mental game in Majuro.”

The tourney runs until Friday, July 12.