By James Sablan
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Variety News Staff
THE NMI Junior National Tennis Team showcased its talents on Tuesday, sweeping through matchups across multiple age divisions at the International Tennis Federation’s North Pacific Regional Championships in Guam.
From the U12 prospects to the seasoned U16 seeds, the NMI athletes were nearly untouchable.
NMI’s U12 players set the tone early, delivering a series of wins in singles and doubles against Nauru and Palau.
In the girls division, Loken secured a flawless 6-0, 6-0 victory over Nauru’s Margie Megirl Moses, while Yu followed with a commanding 6-1, 6-0 win against Shaniah Jeremiah. Yu later teamed up with Aileen Kim in girls doubles to complete the sweep against Jeremiah and Kayoni-Jil Tannang, 6-1, 6-1.
On the boys’ side, Timothy Watson and Isaiah Arriola-Mook showed similar poise. Watson took down Palau’s Simon Nillasca, 6-3, 6-3, while Arriola-Mook delivered a dominant 6-0, 6-1 win over Shawn Etpison. Arriola-Mook later joined Gabriel Walsh to defeat Etpison and Nillasca, 6-1, 6-2.
The afternoon sessions saw NMI maintain its momentum, with several players living up to their high tournament seedings.
Top seed in Girls Singles U16, Anne Lee, proved why she is the one to beat, delivering a perfect 6-0, 6-0 victory over Guam’s Lana Noble.
In Boys Singles U16, Jeongwoo Ryan Choi secured a convincing 6-1, 6-0 win against Guam’s Shawn Masculino.
In Boys Singles U14, second-seeded Daniel Kang dismantled Guam’s David Lee with a strong 6-1, 6-0 victory.
One of the most hard-fought matches of the day came in Girls Singles U14, where Selina Chi upset third-seeded My-Eita Deireragea of Nauru, 6-4, 6-2.
Also joining the winner’s circle were NMI’s Vivian Chung over Guam’s Emely Rosario, 6-0, 6-1, in GS U16; Matt Zhu over Guam’s Tanish Dewan, 6-1, 6-0, in BS U14; and Jenna Pascual over FSM’s Neveah Pangelinan-Yamaguchi, 6-0, 6-2, in GS U16.
With such a strong showing in the round-robin stages, NMI has positioned itself as a top contender heading into the final days of the qualifying event.
James Sablan has been a sports reporter for Variety since 2013. He was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College and covers all local sports.
