GUAM KIDS COMPETE IN USTA

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Camden Camacho and Eddie Chung. (courtesy photo)

PRESS RELEASE – Earlier this summer, two sons of Guam competed in the United States Tennis Association’s (USTA) 2013 USTA Summer Junior Section Championships (DT) for the Hawaii Pacific Region. The Championships were held in Hawaii from June 6 – 9, at the Patsy Mink Central Oahu Regional Park.

The tournament draw featured 239 youth players from Guam, American Samoa and Hawaii in a four-day tournament.  While Hawaii-based players formed 98% of the field for the Oahu tournament, Team Guam members Camden Camacho and Eddie Chung represented Guam in the Boys 12 and under Singles and Doubles divisions.

Camacho, ranked 18th in the region in May for the USTA, met tough competition in the 32-player field drawing the number 4 seed Robbie Lau (#4) from Oahu to start the tournament. Camacho lost to Lau, but rebounded to beat Matthew Chung (#6) and Robert Chang (#8), both from Hawaii, in the consolation round. Camacho’s performance slotted him against Devon Baldwin (#3) in the consolation finals where Baldwin prevailed in 2-sets.  After the tournament, Camacho stated, “I was very nervous in my first match but settled down the more I played.”

In the Doubles draw, the unseeded pair of Camacho and Chung went undefeated to reach to the finals, dispatching the first seed (#1) en route.  The scorching heat and densely scheduled tournament took its toll on the number two (#2) seed from Hawaii. They retired due to illness giving Camacho and Chung the boy’s doubles title for the 12 and under group.

In a second tournament held at Pearl Harbor Tennis Courts on Oahu from June 22 – 23, Chung and Camacho found themselves in the finals of the 12 and under Singles in the 16-man draw where Chung prevailed over Camacho in two sets.

For their solid performances, Camacho and Chung earned spots on the Hawaii-Pacific Zone’s 12 and under team at the Western Region Zonal Championships in Tucson, Arizona from July 24-28.  Unfortunately, Chung turned 13 just prior to the Zonal tournament and was ineligible for competition.

The Zonal Championships hosted 12 regional teams, which included four teams from Southern California, three teams from Northern California, two teams from the Pacific Northwest, two teams from the Southwest, and one team from the Hawaii-Pacific zone.  Each zonal team consisted of the six top-ranked boys and girls competing in various singles, doubles, and mixed doubles events.  Camacho finished 3-2 in singles, and 1-4 in doubles.

Camacho’s ranking improved to #9 in the Hawaii-Pacific region while Chung moved up several slots to #12.  Camacho attends Bishop Baumgartner Memorial School and Chung attends Saint Anthony School. Both boys play for the Tennis Academy of Guam and are coached by Joe and Pete Cepeda.

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