PRESS RELEASE – Guam’s top junior tennis talent was stunned by the level of the competition in first-round singles matches of the Calvo’s SelectCare Junior Championships, the island’s first-ever ITF Juniors tournament, at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa and Hyatt Regency Guam tennis courts.
No. 1 Taisei Miyamoto of Japan, ranked No. 373 in the world, cruised to the second round with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Guam’s Victor Tuncap. No. 3 Jesse Delaney of Australia, ranked No. 710 in the world, prevailed over Guam’s Joshua Cepeda 6-4, 6-2. No. 5 Kody Pearson of Australia, No. 843 in the world, blanked Guam’s Anthony John 6-0, 6-0. Guam’s Brian Tuncap, Jr. fell to No. 8 Benard Bruno Nkomba of Australia, ranked No. 1097 in the world, 6-1, 6-0 and Chris Cajigan lost to Japan’s Tomoki Ota, 6-1, 6-3.
Guam’s younger players didn’t fare any better in the boys draw. Sidney Gadsen lost to Japan’s Shinji Hazawa 6-0, 6-0, Mason Caldwell fell to Japan’s Yuki Watanabe 6-0, 6-0, and Shane Schnabel lost his match against Japan’s Kota Kuramoto 6-0, 6-0.
In other opening round matches of the boys draw, No. 6 Shinnosuke Hiramatsu of Japan defeated the Unted States’ James Hahn 6-3, 6-1, Hong Kong’s Ching Lam defeated Japan’s Amami Sakano 6-1, 6-4, No. 7 Leo Vithoontien of Thailand defeated Steven Harianto Poedji of Indonesia 7-5, 6-0, and Japan’s Yuga Tashiro defeated the Northern Mariana Islands’ Tommy Choi 6-3, 6-0.
On the girls side, four out of five players from Guam lost on the tournament’s opening day singles matches. Guam’s Chloe Gadsden fell to Japan’s Nagomi Higashitani 6-1, 6-1, Camdyn Nadler lost to No. 5 Takako Aikawa of Japan, 6-1, 6-0, Nadine del Carmen lost to No. 3 Mai Hontama of Japan 6-1, 6-1, and Margaux San Nicolas dropped her match 6-1, 6-1 to Japan’s Rina Motegi. Guam’s fifth competitor in the division, Caylin Hubble, is scheduled to play her first round match at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at Hilton against No. 7 Maria Dominique Ong of the Philippines.
In other matches in the girls draw, No. 1 Yinglak Jittakoat of Thailand defeated Japan’s Wakaba Sato 6-0, 6-1, Japan’s Yuki Fujiwara defeated NMI’s Tammy Ackerman 6-1, 6-0, Japan’s Ramu Ueda defeated Palau’s Ayana Rengiil 6-2, 6-0, Australia’s Gabriella Da Silva Fick defeated Japan’s Maine Hiramatsu 6-0, 6-0, Japan’s Megumi Yagi defeated Thailand’s Gorbua Srisirisupayok 6-2, 7-5, Hong Kong’s Venia Yeung defeated Japan’s Karen Kobayashi 6-4, 6-0, Chinese Taipei’s Sing-Le Fan Chiang upset No. 8 Kanako Ota of Japan 6-0, 6-1, and No. 2 Eun Se Jang of Korea prevailed over Japan’s Asumi Kanazawa 6-2, 6-4.
Tuesday’s matches, which will include doubles matches, begin at 8:30 a.m. at both the Hilton and Hyatt tennis courts. Updated draws and the order of play is posted at Hilton’s tennis courts clubhouse.
(AP/Carlos Osorio)
