Minor gains second title in New Zealand

CNMI bet Thea Minor added another doubles crown to her collection after teaming up with Fiji’s Tarani Kamoe in winning the girls’ 14 doubles crown in the Poverty Bay East Coast Ray White Junior Championship Sunday in Childers Road, Gisborne, New Zealand.

Minor, who with Kamoe topped the same age group competition in the 2008 Coca-Cola Waikato Junior Open, claimed her second doubles crown after she and the Fijian netter downed New Zealand’s Raven Albert and ITF Pacific Oceania teammate Annie Shannon in the finals, 6-2, 6-0.

The Minor-Kamoe tandem was seeded first in the 11-team field tournament. The duo drew a bye in the first round and moved into the semifinals after beating New Zealand’s Naea Albert and Darian Taylor in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-0.

Minor and Kamoe advanced to the title match after shutting out Waikato’s Rebecca Barnard and Claire Gourley, 6-0, 6-0.

The CNMI junior netter made her second finals appearance in the Poverty Bay tournament advancing to the title match in the girls’ 14 singles.

Minor’s foe was Kamoe, who outclassed the CNMI bet, 6-2, 6-2.

Minor was seeded fourth in the event and started her bid in the girls’ 14 singles with a 6-0, 6-0 thrashing of Australia’s Johannah Lamond-Halle.

In the quarterfinals, Minor was paired with New Zealand’s Claire Gourley and the former won, 6-0, 6-1, to set a semis duel with the No. 2 seed Shannon.

Minor lost to Shannon twice this year before the New Zealand tournament. The Fiji netter beat Minor in Fiji and in New Caledonia.

The CNMI netter got her revenge against Shannon winning their semis tiff in three closely fought sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Thea’s mother, Joy, was happy her daughter pulled it off against Shannon.

“She is one of Thea’s toughest opponents in Fiji and in New Caledonia. They’ve met several times in the past three years with Shannon enjoying a 4-2 record against Thea before the tournament in Poverty Bay,” Joy said.

“We’re very pleased with Thea’s performance in the two tournaments.”

The younger Minor had two Final Four appearance and two championships in her belt so far and is looking to add more, as she is also entered in the girls’ 16 singles and doubles divisions.

In other results, Thea’s teammates—Christian Miller and Rafael Jones—dropped their debuts in Poverty Bay.

Jones bowed to Australia’s Jake Noonan, 9-4, while Miller bowed to New Zealand and No. 3 seed Jacob Carey, 9-0.

Jones redeemed himself in the consolation draw winning three matches to reach the third round.

After their stint in Poverty Bay, the CNMI netters will conclude their New Zealand trip with a tournament in Auckland.