Pat O’Rourke, the Referee for the inaugural ITF Junior Circuit event in the North Pacific, reports that “the IT&E Northern Mariana Islands Junior Championships concluded at the Pacific Islands Club in Saipan 26th May.
The hot sunny conditions continued for the final day of competition. The boys final saw two wildcard entries, Jackie Tang (HKG) and Francisco Blanco Paris (ESP), battle it out. The match was a contrast of styles between the consistent and quick Tang and the flamboyant hitting of Blanco. The first set was full of thrilling points and went all the way to a tiebreaker. A couple of outstanding shots from Tang saw him clinch it 7-3. In the second set he raced away from his Spanish opponent who was visibly tiring after a series of long matches on the previous days.
The girls singles was won by third seed Mei Otsuka from Japan who beat compatriot Izumi Asano 6-2 6-2. The girls competition was dominated by Japan who had three players in the singles semi-finals and also both pairs in the doubles final.Otsuka combined with Yuri Katano to take the girls doubles final over Asano and Miyu Hashimoto.
In the final match of the day Tang returned to the court for boys doubles partnered by Yu Hao Lin (CHN) against the top seeds Chak Yin Chan (HKG) and Kennosuke Nouchi (JPN). The top seeds raced through the first set and looked good early in the second with a break. However Tang and Yu fought back to claim the set and force a deciding match tiebreak. A couple of magnificent returns of serve from Chan gave the top seeds the early lead which they held to take the tiebreak 10-5 and the title.
North Pacific players had some success and also gained a lot of experience from participating in the tournament. Five players will come away with ITF world junior rankings for the first time including Ayana Rengiil, the first player from Palau to gain a ranking. Thea Minor also had the distinction of beating an Australian player to win the girls consolation singles.
The tournament was a great success with players from Asia, Africa, Europe, USA and three Oceania nations participating. All who came enjoyed the great atmosphere and will be looking forward to the 2014 event.”