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NMITA Fall Classic begins today
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Posted on Nov 10 2004
A three-cornered fight will ensue in the boy’s 18-and under division, while it will be a wide-open race in the girl’s 14-and-under, as the 2004 Fall Classic Tennis Championships kick off today at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.
The Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association-hosted event will feature top seed Jung Mun Chung and archrivals Nicolas Son and Ralph Buenaventura battling for supremacy in the junior tennis competition’s premiere boys division.
The departure of tennis princess Kanani Ashraf, on the other hand, has made the competition in the girl’s 14-and-under anybody’s ballgame, with the trio of Vivian Lee, Lila Mailman, and Audrey Motto all equally capable of taking home the title.
Ralph’s younger brother, Russell, meanwhile will have his hands full trading forehands and backhands against up-and-coming players Tyler Yoshimoto, Calvin Yang, and Dylan Thorpe in the boy’s 14-and-under category.
Three players were given byes in the first round of the boy’s 10-and-under category but it would still be up to Hunter Thorpe, Joe Motto, and Raphael Jones to prove if they deserve the top billing and advance deep in the tournament.
The same is true in the girl’s 10-and-under with Amy Hudkins and Melody Johnson taking the top two seeds in the age group.
Aside from the aforementioned singles divisions, the 2004 Fall Classic Tennis Championships will also showcase play in the doubles division, namely boy’s 14-and-under, girl’s 14-and-under, boy’s 10-and-under, and girl’s 10-and-under.
Tournament draws are already posted at the Las Vegas Discount Golf & Tennis and American Memorial Park bulletin board.
The 2004 Fall Classic Tennis Championships is a NMITA Junior Development fundraising event.
Last year, the tournament included a men’s open division, but according to NMITA president Jeff Race, the association decided to limit this year’s event to only junior tennis to develop up-and-coming netters and because there is a dearth of open players on island.
For more information on the 2004 Fall Classic Tennis Championships, please call Race at 322-5652 or 483-5652 or e-mail him at race@saipan.com.
