Minor takes doubles crown in New Zealand

CNMI junior tennis player Thea Minor celebrated her birthday in New Zealand with two finals appearances and a championship win.

Minor, who turned 13 on Thursday, and fellow CNMI bet Rafael Jones and Christian Miller are part of the ITF Pacific Oceania Touring Team and competed in the 2008 Coca-Cola Waikato Junior Open, which ran from Dec. 7 to 13 in Hamilton East, Hamilton, New Zealand.

It was Minor’s second tour of duty for the team and she made a pretty impressive start in her return to New Zealand.

She and ITF Pacific Oceania teammate Tarani Kamoa ruled the girls’ 14 doubles division after beating fellow Pacific Oceania bet Annie Shannon and Waikato’s Toni Katipa in the finals, 6-3, 6-1.

Minor and Kamoe, who were seeded second in the event, debuted with a big 6-0, 6-0 win over Waikato’s Amelie Hamilton and Australia’s Telese Lane, and advanced to the finals after downing Waikato’s Libby Bird and New Caledonia’s Samuelle Bull in the semis, 6-2, 6-0.

Minor and Kamoa also made it to the girls’ 16 doubles finals, but they lost to No. 2 seed Kerry Hampton and Ellie Verran of New Zealand in the finals, 2-6, 2-6.

Both finalists played extended minutes in the semis with the tandem of Minor and Kamoe downing Australia’s Elise Facci and Brianna Kotovski, 9-6, and the pair of Hampyon-Verran topping Bull and Ophelle Salaun.

Minor played in two singles competitions.

In the girls’ 14 singles, the Grace Christian Academy student advanced to the Round of 16 winning over New Zealand’s Caitlin Edwards, 6-4, 6-1, before bowing to Ella Hassall in the quarterfinals, 5-7, 1-6.

In the girls’ 16 singles, Minor also gained Round of 16 entry after beating Australia’s Joanna Degan before losing to Facci, 6-7, 2-6.

Jones and Miller won their debuts in the boys’ 14 singles downing Australia’s Jonas Rundqvist, 6-3, 6-4, and New Zealand’s Lochain Robertson, 6-0, 6-0, respectively.

Jones marched on to the Round of 32 after easing past New Zealand’s Lane Fisher, 6-2, 6-2, while Miller lost to No. 9 seed Sam Shearer of Australia in the next round, 2-6, 4-6.

Jones went on to face Shearer in the Round of 16 with the Aussie bet outclassing the CNMI netter, 6-1, 6-0.

In the boys’ 14 doubles, Jones teamed up with Fiji’s Kevin Khatri and they advanced to the Round of 32 after thumping the Aussie pair of Henry Moore and Mitchell Nixon, 6-4, 6-3. But Jones and Khatri bowed to New Zealand’s John Curwen and Logan Walsh in the Round of 16 in three hard fought sets, 6-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-5).

Miller was paired with Robin Morove and they also won their first match against Australia’s Samuel Heath and James Monaghan, 6-4, 6-0, before losing to Matthew Sheedy and Sion Wiggin, 1-6, 0-6.

Jones completed her stint in the Waikato event with a participation in the boys’ 16 doubles teaming up with Khatri anew, but they lost their debut against New Zealand’s TeHira Baker and Campbell Brake, 1-6, 5-7.