Jones defeated finalist Daniel Park, 6-2, 6-1 to take the title and bested female player Thea Minor, 6-2, 6-4 in the semis. Jones cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Clay McCullough-Stearns in the quarterfinals.
Park downed Jake Lee, 6-1, 2-0 and outran Christian Miller in two sets (7-6, 6-1) prior to his loss.
Miller recovered with a 6-4, 7-6 victory against Minor.
Rafael also teamed up Angelo Jones and topped the boys 18U doubles category with three consecutive wins. Carl Dela Cruz and Chris Cajigan finished off in second place with two wins and one loss, followed by Aaron Lee and Seiya Eda (one win, two losses).
Thea Minor later took the girls 18U singles title after beating her sister Theecel Minor, 6-0, 6-0. Thea —needing only two games to win —triumphed over Melody Johnson, 6-1, 6-1 in her first match.
In the round-robin girls 18U doubles event, Johnson and Mikayla Lopez drew two wins over Alina Ishikawa and Jazmin Rayphand and Tammy Ackerman and Negahr Rastguiy.
Rastguiy and Ackerman prevailed, 6-0, 6-4 in another game versus the Ishikawa-Rayphand duo.
Other top winners from the two-weekend competition included: Chris Cajigan and Mikayla Lopez (boys and girls 15U singles), Michael Ren and Carol Lee (12U singles), Steven Goodwin and Tania Tan (10U singles), Moris Villanueva, Carl Dela Cruz, Carol Lee, and Emily Jones (boys and girls 12U doubles), and Gang Min Kim and Asia Raulerson (mini-tennis).
Junior netters chosen for North Pacific Qualifier
Rafael Jones, the Minor sisters, Miller, and Lopez — among others- will now be included in the NMI’s entries for the International Tennis Federation’s upcoming 2011 North Pacific Qualifying Event. The NPQ is set for June 13-17 in Guam.
According to team coach Jeff Race, the top finishers in each age and gender group will make up the North Pacific team that plays in the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships and Oceania Closed Junior championships held in Lautoka, Fiji in August 8-19.
“Last year, the North Pacific finished 1st among Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia, for the first time in the event’s 16-year history,” said Race in an email to Marianas Variety.
10 of those North Pacific representatives were from the NMI.
Rafael Jones and Thea and Theecel Minor will make up the NMI’s boys and girls 18U divisions.
In the boys and girls 15U category are: Christian Miller, Jake Lee, Amami Sakano, Angelo Jones, Christopher Cajigan, Seiya Eda, Mikayla Lopez, Melody Johnson, Alina Ishikawa, and Jazmin Rayphand.
In the boys and girls 12U category are Carl Dela Cruz, Moris Villanueva, Colin Ramsey, Michael Ren, Luther Lizama, Michael Jones, Negahr Rastguiy, Tammy Ackerman, Carol Lee, and Emily Jones.
