Matches all set for UMDA tennis

The 2006 UMDA Junior Tennis Tournament is all set as the Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Federation released the draw for the weekend’s competition at the American Memorial Park tennis courts.

Headlining the competition are the netters in the boys’ and girls’ 18-and-under division, most of whom will be competing in the upcoming 6th Micronesian Games or are hopefuls for the team.

Leading the cast in the boys’ singles division are Ralph Buenaventura and Ji Hoon Heo, who will be joined by fellow Micro Games hopeful Nicolas Son, and up-and-coming players Henry Yang, Keith Gabaldon, and John Johnson.

Yang and Gabaldon will battle at 9:30am tomorrow, while Johnson and Son will also face off at the same time. The winner of the Yang-Gabaldon bout will face Buenaventura in the semifinals, while Heo will take on the victor of the Johnson-Son contest in the other half of the semis.

Buenaventura will also team up with Gabaldon in the doubles competition and will take on Son and Yang at 8am Sunday. The other bout will feature Heo and Johnson challenging young guns Dominic von Siebenthal and Joe Motto Jr., with the winners facing off for the title.

The girls division also features standouts in the game, as all members of the women’s team to the Micro Games will be competing for the title. Female sensation Mayuko Arriola will take on Audrey Motto, while Lila Mailman squares off against Vivian Lee in the start of a round-robin competition.

Arriola and Mailman are teaming up in the doubles and will face Motto and Lee in the finals at 2pm on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the UMDA tournament also features play in the 13-and-under and nine-and-under categories.

Among those looking to take the crown of the boys’ 13-and-under challenge include Bradley Brostrom, Cody Race, Christopher Camacho, Rafael Jones, Joe Motto Jr., Christian Miller, Ryan Baron, R.J. Knecht, Jake Lee, John Jeon, Sung Woo Han, and James Camacho.

The doubles competition will include the teams of Race and Brostrom, Baron and Miller, Jeon and Han, and Knecht, and Lee.

In the girls corner, youngsters vying for top honors include Ilia Corella, Jessica Soll, Melody Johnson, Thea Minor, Theecell Minor, and Shane Jones.

Johnson and Jones will team up for the doubles and will face Michaela Grandinetti and Corella for the title.

Headlining the nine-and-under boys competition are Michael Grandinetti, Aaron Lee, Luther Lizama, Quitnin Ramsey, Andrew Johnson, Colin Ramsey, Angelo Jones, and Dylan Ackerman.

Lizama and Lee, the Ramseys, Johnson and Grandinetti, and Jones and Ackerman are the teams for the doubles.

The girls’ nine-and-under will also showcase intense battles as Gabrielle Race, Neghar Rastguiy, Sabrina Bilston-John, and Michaela Grandinetti will battle for the top spot.

Race and Rastguiy will battle John and Mikyla Lopez in the doubles finals.

In all, a total of 45 netters will see action over the weekend. Players must pay a fee of $7.50 for each event.

For more information, contact NMITA vice president Jeff Race at 483-5652.