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SIS to host tennis tournament next week
Saipan International School’s Steven Goodwin makes a forehand return to his opponent during the 2017 TanHoldings Tennis Classic at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan courts. SIS will be hosting a tournament next week, giving junior players an opportunity to compete after the 2018 edition of the TanHoldings Tennis Classic was canceled due to Super Typhoon Yutu. (Contributed Photo)
The SIS Student Council Tennis Tournament will be held next weekend at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan tennis courts.
Tournament organizer Malika Miyawaki said that although the competition will be hosted by SIS STUCO, the event is open to all interested players. There will be games in the boys U12 and girls U14 singles, boys/girls U18 singles and U12 and U18 mixed doubles and matches will be played on Jan. 26. The mini tennis (for U10 players) will take place on Jan. 17 at 1:30pm.
“They (players) can print out the form or get the form from SIS or any of the STUCO members or coach Jeff Race. This competition is a fundraiser for SIS,” Miyawaki said.
The SIS student, who also played for the CNMI Junior National Team, said they decided to host a tournament to give the island’s youth players a chance to get back into action after a long break
“We decided to host this because TanHoldings Tennis Classic got canceled due to Super Typhoon Yutu and we knew that it would be nice for the junior players to have an opportunity to play some matches,” the U18 player said.
The TanHoldings Tennis Classic was scheduled in November, about a month after the super typhoon hammered Saipan and Tinian. Organizers were forced to call off the tournament to give way to the relief and recovery efforts in the community. The event was supposed to be the season-opening tournament of Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association for the 2018-2019 calendar.
With the TanHoldings Tennis Classic scrapped, Saipan was without a local tournament since May, while some CNMI players went off-island for regional competitions from July to August.
Meanwhile, the SIS STUCO-hosted event will serve as warm-up for the 2019 Coconut Tennis Classic that will be held next month.
