5 CNMI jr. netters enter quarters

Five CNMI junior tennis players marched to the quarterfinals of the Junior ITF Oceania Plate being played in Lautoka, Fiji.

In the junior girls division, all three bets of the Commonwealth—Tammy Ackerman, Melody Johnson, and Negahr Rastguiy—barged into the Elite 8. Also making it to the quarterfinals were junior boys’ Carl Dela Cruz and Moris Villanueva.

Ackerman, who conquered the U12 singles division of the 2011 Pacific Oceania Junior Championships last week, continues to have a strong showing in Fiji, as she swept her pool play assignments. She finished on top of Pool C with a perfect 3-0 record.

Ackerman survived Palau’s Ayana Rengiil in her first pool game last Monday, 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-3, and then swept Fiji’s Jenna Panuelo, 6-0, 6-2, and Palau’s Natansa Nakanaul, 6-0, 6-0, for a clean slate and a slot to the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, Ackerman was scheduled to duel Rastguiy last Thursday. Result of this match was unavailable at press time. The two CNMI players had earlier met in the POJC finals with Ackerman winning the U12 singles championship.

Rastguiy placed second in Pool B with a 2-1 card. She dropped her first match against Fiji’s Mulan Kamoe, 0-6, 3-6, but bounced back with two straight wins, beating the Cook Island’s Kianna Sword-Tua, 6-2, 6-1, and Fiji’s Shawn Adams, 6-4, 7-5.

Johnson ruled Pool A with a 2-0 card, downing Samoa’s Simoana Ruepena, 6-1, 6-2, and Tahiti’s Kelani Chene, 6-0, 6-1. Johnson’s quarterfinals’ foe was Samoa’s Lyla Tapusoa, who finished Pool D with a 1-2 card.

In the junior boys, it was another all-CNMI tiff in the quarterfinals, as Dela Cruz was set to face Villanueva last Thursday. Dela Cruz was undefeated in three games in Pool D and won all his matches in straight sets. He first blanked the Cook Island’s Andrew Terupe, 6-0, 6-0, and then topped Fiji’s Nathan Naidu, 6-3, 6-0, and the Cook Island’s Jake Bergman, 6-1, 6-2, for the sweep.

Villanueva finished second in Pool A with his 2-1 card. He first triumphed over Tonga’s Teu Ki Tongi, 6-2, 6-0, before losing to Papua New Guinea’s John Martin Kaiulo, 2-6, 2-6. Villanueva closed out his pool assignment with a shutout win over Vanuatu’s Julien Pineda, 6-0, 6-0.

Three other CNMI junior tennis players—Mikayla Lopez, Theecel Minor, and Jake Lee—are competing in the Oceania Plate, which is for players who can’t make it to the U18 singles draw of the much competitive Air Pacific Oceania Closed Junior Championships 2011. The Air Pacific event, which drew the CNMI’s Christian Miller, Thea Minor, and Rafael Jones, awards Junior ITF ranking points, while the Oceania Plate does not.

Lopez swept her first two games in Pool A of the seniors girls division, winning over Tonga’s Simuoko Afemui, 6-0, 6-0, and against Palau’s Abigail Gbewonyo, 6-0, 6-2. The diminutive CNMI netter played two more games, but results were unavailable at press time. Lopez needed to win at least one of her two remaining matches to advance to the semifinals.

Theecel Minor is in Pool B and had a 1-2 card after Tuesday’s games, and had one match left (against American Samoa’s Leilani Duchnak) scheduled for last Thursday. She lost her first two games to Samoa’s Anastasia Tapusoa, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 3-6, and PNG’s Lorish Puluspene, 1-6, 0-6, before ending the skid with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over the Cook Island’s Tayla Beddoes.

In the seniors boys, Jake Lee had a 2-1 card in Pool A after Tuesday’s matches. He defeatead Kiribati’s Teba Tito, 3-6, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (3) and American Samoa’s Kevin Maukoloa, 6-1, 6-0. His lone loss came from Guam’s Emil Penafiel, 1-6, 2-6. Lee was scheduled to play two more games and must sweep them to seal a semis ticket. Only the Top 2 players in each pool will advance to the semis.