NMI Junior ITF lures over 130 players

More than 130 players so far have registered for the 2015 IT&E Northern Marianas Junior Championships that will be held on Saipan from May 19 to 24.

Jack Barber of the U.S. makes a backhand return to Japan’s Taisei Miyamoto during their title game in last year’s IT&E Northern Marianas Junior Championships at the Pacific Islands Club tennis courts. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

“We already have 132 and this is the biggest since we started hosting a Junior ITF ranking event in 2013,” Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association official Jeff Race said in an interview with Saipan Tribune yesterday.

Race added that this year’s competition has lured tennis players from 27 countries, including Europe’s Germany, United Kingdom, South Africa, Estonia, and Poland. Japan is also sending a bunch of players, while the CNMI is expected to field between 12 and 14.

The Junior ITF event is for players in the 13 to 18 age group and participants will have a chance to earn ranking points both in singles and doubles contests. The Saipan-hosted tournament is a Grade 5 event, which offers 30 ranking points to the singles champion and 20 (each) to the doubles winners.

“Players should turn 13 by the start of the tournament and one of our players, Ken Song, will meet that standard as he will turn 13 on the kick-off day. It’s a good birthday gift for him,” Race said.

Race also said out of the more than 130 players who registered for the six-day competition, 79 are boys. These participants will be divided into two groups with 32 going to the qualifying draw where four entries to the singles main draw are at stake. The main draw will also have a 32-player field both in the girls and boys division. The doubles event will have 16 teams each in the boys and girls divisions.

Names of the participants are still unavailable at the tournament site, but Race said Australia’s Jesse Delaney was among those who signed up for next month’s event. Delaney joined the first two editions of the IT&E Northern Marianas Junior Championships and was seeded in both occasions, but failed to win the singles crown. He is currently ranked No. 541 in the world.

Jack Barber of the U.S. and Japanese Yurie Takanishi were last year’s champions after surviving a three-set finale against Taisei Miyamoto and Nanaka Takeuchi, respectively. In 2013, the boys and girls crowns went to Hong Kong’s Anthony Jackie Tang and Japan’s Mei Otsuka.

Meanwhile, NMITA would like to thank title sponsor IT&E, Marianas Visitors Authority, Coca-Cola, Hertz Rent A Car, and Oceania Tennis Federation for supporting next month’s contest, which will hold games at the Pacific Islands Club and Kanoa Resort.