Serin Chung claims U18 girls title

Serin Chung claimed the U18 girls title in the 2024 SIS Student Council Tennis Tournament that was held from last Friday to Sunday at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

It was originally scheduled for last Monday, but due to inclement weather, it was pushed to last Sunday, and thankfully the weather held up long enough to finish the finals.

Chung defeated Hannah Chae, 6-0, 6-1, as the strong winds swirled around them. Chung was clearly more skilled, pushing Chae back with her much harder returns.

Chae was also her worst enemy as she made a few mistakes in her serves that resulted in faults, and couldn’t quite put the command on her returns as accurately as Chung did.

The 17-year-old Chung went undefeated in the round-robin format as there were only three competitors in the division. Chae and Savita Sikkel went up first last Jan. 13, with Chae blanking Sikkel, 6-0, 6-0. Chung then discarded Sikkel, 6-2, 6-0, last Jan. 14 to meet up with Chae in the finals.

Chung, a senior at Saipan International School and organizer of the tourney, said that in her finals match that she was “feeling a bit nervous, so I just kept on telling myself to relax and have fun. I always play my best when I’m having fun.”

Along with playing in the tourney, Chung also coordinated the event and said, “I always have a lot of fun playing in the SIS tournament. Although there are challenging aspects of running a tournament, it’s always rewarding to see other people out there having fun.”

In other results, Scarlett Loken won the title in the U12 division, in a round-robin format with two other players.

Loken defeated Olivia Zhang, 6-2, 6-2, then wrapped up the tourney with a win against Aileen Kim, 6-1, 6-0.

No. 1 seed Lina Tsukagoshi won the U14 girls title after she bested No. 2 seed Amy Park, 6-2, 6-2.

Rivals Hoo Wang and Anne Lee went at it for an exciting three-set match in the U16 finals, with the title going to Lee, 6-1, 4-6, 10-6.

In the U12 boys finals that was rescheduled from last Jan. 15, No. 1 seed Cody Park defeated Minjoon Jeon, 6-7, 6-4, 10-8.

For more information on the 2024 SIS Student Council Tennis Tournament, call (670) 788-7400 or (670) 989-0080.

The Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association coordinated the tourney.

Results of the men’s open division and mixed doubles will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.