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Ranking points at stake in NMITA tourneys
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Posted on Mar 19 2009
The Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association will be holding three important tournaments that will award ranking points and determine the composition of the CNMI Junior Team to the North Pacific Qualifying Tournament.
The three tournaments are this month’s Pacific Islands Club’s sponsored event, the NMITA Junior Championships in April, and the DFS-backed tournament in May.
“We will be awarding ranking points in these tournaments and whoever makes it to the Top 4 may end up playing in the NPQ,” said CNMI coach Jeff Race.
In the NPQ, players will aim for slots on the North Pacific Team that will compete in the 2009 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji in August.
Boys’ 18-and-under player Ji Hoon Heo and girls’ 14-and-under’s Thea Minor will no longer need the ranking points, as they had already secured seats in the POJC after a Final Four finish in the tournament last year. Minor placed fourth in the POJC, while Heo was runner-up to Vanuatu’s Lorenzo Pineda.
When Guam hosted the NPQ last year, the CNMI claimed seven of the 12 slots on the North team. Included on the list were boys’ 14-and-under players Rafael Jones and Christian Miller and Minor, and 18-and-under’s James Camacho, Benjie Decena, Dina Jones, and Mayuko Arriola. Guam earned three slots, while the Federated States of Micronesia had one. Palau also competed in the NPQ, but failed to nail a spot on the team.
Race is hoping that the CNMI will still get two slots in the boys’ 14-and-under and at least one each from the girls and boys’ 18-and-under (excluding Heo’s slot).
Guam will still be hosting this year’s NPQ with the tournament set to run from June 15 to 19.
The schedules of other qualifiers are as follows: Lautoka, Fiji for the West (May 4 to 8) and American, Samoa for the East (July 13 to 17).
The POJC in Fiji will run from Aug. 17 to 21.
