Heo to join ITF introductory tourney in Noumea

The CNMI’s top junior netter Ji Hoon Heo may have missed the tough 5th Annual Guam International Tennis Open’s 16-player Male Singles Challenge Invitational and Eight-Team Men’s Doubles Draw, but he has several tournaments ahead of him, including an ITF Junior tournament in New Caledonia later this month.

Heo in an email to the Saipan Tribune said he was not among the 16 players invited to join the Guam Open, which was played at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa last week and featured players from host Guam, Korea, Japan, Hawaii, and the Philippines.

“I really wanted to go [to Guam], but sadly, they changed the rules and these did not allow me to join the tournament,” said Heo, who debuted in the same event last year through its open-tournament policy and lost his late night opening match to Hawaii’s Daniel Laraneas.

Korean Dylan Seong Kwan Kim won the singles competition of the Challenge, beating compatriot Min Hyeok Cho, 6-3, 6-2, in last Sunday’s finale.

Instead of feeling bad because he wasn’t invited to join the tournament in Guam, Heo said he is concentrating on three upcoming events this month, including the Open Junior BNP Paribas de Nouvelle Caledonia in Noumea.

The tournament in the French territory will run from June 22 to 27 and will offer ITF Junior ranking points to participants. The Noumea event is a Grade 5 ITF Junior tournament which will give 30 ranking points to the champion, 20 to the runner-up, 15 to the semifinalists, 10 to the quarterfinalists, and five to round of 16 qualifiers.

The Grade 5 event is an introduction to the ITF Junior Circuit.

Heo is excited about the tournament in New Caledonia and is hoping to have a good debut in the ITF-sanctioned meet.

“I’ve been training hard for this tournament,” said Heo, who is not only playing tennis regularly at PIC to prepare for the ITF event, but is also doing weight training at Gold’s Gym.

“I’ve been training with Brett Nelson of Gold’s Gym, working on flexibility, stability, and cardiovascular strength. Gold’s Gym has helped me in numerous ways. It helped me become a better player,” added Heo, whose hitting power doubled after a significant improvement in his upper body strength.

Aside from the tournament in New Caledonia, Heo will be leaving for Fiji this month to compete in the 2008 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships and in the Air Pacific Open Junior Championships. The two events in Fiji will run from June 30 to July 5.

Heo will be leading the North team in the POJC, while he will be playing against players from Australia, New Zealand, and selected East and North Pacific bets in the Open Championships.

The 16-year-old netter automatically qualified for the PJOC after a runner-up finish in the same event last year, while his other NMI teammates will be vying for slots in the regional meet through the North Pacific Qualifying Tournament on Guam this month.

Fiji’s Daneric Hazelman ruled last year’s boys’ 18-and-under division of the POJC, beating Heo in the finals and recovering from his loss to the NMI bet in the pool play. Heo hopes to dethrone Hazelman to gain the top ranking in the POJC this year.

“I hope to do really well in Fiji. I’ve been working on many things at Gold’s Gym and I think I’ve improved a lot over the months. I hope this preparation and improvement will help me get the No. 1 place,” Heo said. [B][I](RM)[/I][/B]