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West Pacific Qualifying POJC
The West Pacific Qualifying tournament was almost washed away by a week of torrential rain. PNG arrived early to train but the weather didn't help and in the end the tournament wasn't finished when they had to leave on the weekly flight. Doubles were abandoned and there were some late nights at the courts when there were breaks in the weather.
With the girls in the Pacific Oceania Junior fed Cup team absent in Bangkok Zinnia Leamana dominated the 18/u girls competition.The Solomon Islander overpowered Fiji's number one junior Akanesi Fa 63 62 in the final. In a battle between two local players dalyn Hazelman beat Rutha Alick for third spot.
The 13/u girls competition was also an all Fiji final with Annie Shannon beating long time rival and fellow RTC teammate Tarani Kamoe 61 64
Lorenzo Pineda, from Vanuatu, had an outstanding tournament in the 18/u boys singles, not dropping a set right through the event. In the semifinals he beat Duncan Maetoloa (SOL) 62 63 and then in the final he outlasted William O'Connell 64 63. Daneric Hazelman beat Maetoloa for third. In the 13/u boys Robin Morove (PNG) beat local player Devi Khatri.
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Pacific Oceania at Junior Fed Cup
Day 6 v Philippines
As on day 5 Steffi Carruthers struggled against a consistent opponent trying to finish the points too quickly and was well beaten 6-2 6-1 in the opening rubber.
Abigail Tere-Apisah came out firing and raced to a 3-0 lead in her singles but then seemed to lapse in concentration and lost the first set 7-5. She was back to her best in the second set taking it 6-2 and then opened up a big lead in the third before another lapse let Noelle Zoeleta back into the match. However Abigail rallied and won the set 6-4 to level the tie.
This time the Pacific team were not going to let the doubles get away from them as Steffi and Abigail took the match 6-3 6-3 in just over an hour to seal the team's third win of the competition. Pictured below is team captain Finau Fa collecting the team's certificates.
Day 5 v Indonesia (8)
The day did not start well for Pacific Oceania. Steffi Carruthers' inconsistency in stroke making was exposed as she was blown away by the Indonesia number 2 player 6-0 6-0 in 37 minutes. Steffi was unable to cope with hard hit, accurate and deep groundstrokes from her opponent.
Abigail Tere-Apisah then stepped up and played some excellent tennis against Laila Ulfa, a very experienced opponent ranked 297 in juniors. Abigail was on top from the outset winning 6-3 6-2 in her best performance of the tournament so far.
Steffi and Abigail then played the deciding doubles, losing the first set 6-3 and falling behind in the second. They then staged an excellent fightback to force a tiebreaker but went down 7-4.
Day 4 v Malaysia
Steffi Carruthers began slowly in her match against Sieu Minn Toi losing the first set 6-2. In the second set her consistency improved and she took it 6-4. By now she was playing well and raced through the third 6-1 to put Pacific Oceania in front.
Abigail Tere-Apisah was a little slow to start as well but from 2 all in the first set she powered away to a 6-2 6-2 win to give Pacific Oceania their second win of the tournament.
In the doubles both teams substituted their number one players which gave Marcia Tere-Apisah another chance to play with Steffi Carruthers. The pair looked likely in the first set going down narrowly 7-5 in the tiebreaker but their level dropped off in the second which they lost 6-2.
Day 3 v Singapore
As on the previous day Steffi Carruthers began strongly racing through the first set 6-1 against Laura Lim of Singapore. The second set was much closer and it took some determined rallying from Steffi to eventually gain control and go on the secure the match 61 64.
Abigail Tere-Apisah's match was over in less than an hour as Singapore's Stefanie Tan was unable to cope with the driving groundstrokes produced by the Pacific player. The final score of 61 61 demonstrated Abigail's domination throughout.
With Pacific Oceania ahead 2-0 Marcia Tere-Apisah substituted for her older sister. After a slow start she and Steffi Carruthers played some good tennis in the second set but were beaten 62 64 giving the Pacific team their first victory 2-1.
Day 2 v Thailand (4 seed)
Steffi Carruthers came out fighting in the opening singles match against Thailand's Peangtam Plipuech taking the first two games. After narrowly losing the first set she went on to take the second 6-4 before the Thai player won the third without losing a game. The final score was 63 46 60 in the longest match of the day. Abigail Tere-Apisah was out-hit by Thailands number one, who used a two handed forehand to crack winners off the serve and from all over the court, going down 62 60.
Steffi was rested for the doubles which gave Marcia Tere-Apisah, the youngest player at the event, the chance to play on centre court with her sister. The pair tried hard and played some excellent points going down 63 60.Marcia will benefit from the experience of her first Junior Fed Cup match.
Day 1 v China (6 seed)
Steffi Carruthers was first on court against the powerful China team. Despite competing well in the hot conditions the Samoan player was unable to win the vital points and went down 61 60 in an hour.
Abigail Tere-Apisah then faced the China number one and fought really hard for an hour and a half before conceding defeat 64 63. A more consistent serve would have allowed Abigail to be even closer but with too many missed first serves her Chinese opponent was able to punish the second serves and win vital games in both sets.
China were too strong in the doubles winning 62 62 to claim a 3-0 win
PO Junior Team TourNew Zealand December 07
By Dan O'Connell
The 2007 Team players earned their position through success in the ITF Pacific Oceania Junior Championship, held in Fiji, in August. Congratulations to these players: Annie Shannon (96 – Fiji), Thea Minor (95 – Northern Mariana), Tarani Kamoe (95 – Fiji), Chris Hargrove (94 – Fiji), Chris Sami (94 – American Samoa), Elias Tukaroa (93 – Cook Islands and Tony O’Connell (93 – Fiji).
The first tournament was in Hamilton. All of our players were involved in the 14’s event, played from the 7-10th. With a smaller draw this year all matches were played at the 24 court centre rather than using three venues as last year. The big improvement this year was the new three court indoor complex. And with rain around on day three the indoor courts were put to good use! Elias won two main round matches losing a tough three setter in the round of 16. Tony won a round. In the girl’s, Thea won two rounds, including an impressive three set win over the #7 seed. Annie won a round. In the consolation, our players won several matches with Tarani winning her consolation event. We won a couple of doubles matches, but no big success.
The girl’s played the 12’s event while the boy’s play the 16’s event from the 11-13th. The boy’s struggles with only Chris Hargrove winning a first round match. A few consolation singles matches were won, but overall our young boy’s results were not very good. On the other hand, congratulations to Thea for winning the girl’s 12’s! Thea defeated Tarani in the quarter-finals. Tarani defeated Annie in the semis of the consolation and then lost the 5th place match. In the second set, Thea and Annie were one point away from reaching the doubles final, however on match point their semi-final match was defaulted away as we needed to depart for the six hour drive to Gisborne.
In the first two days in Gisborne all of our players participated in the 14’s event. Alex Howe took out all of our girls starting with Annie, then Tarani in the quarter-finals and Thea in the semi-finals. Tony reached the quarter-finals losing to the eventual champion. Elias and Chris Sami one a match each and Elias won two more in the consolation. The best doubles result was Tony and his partner reaching the semi-finals, losing in a third set super TB.
In the girl’s 12’s Tarani turned the tables on Thea winning their quarterfinal match. Tarani went on to defeat Annie in the finals while Thea won the consolation title. Thea and Tarani won the doubles. In the boy’s 16’s Elias won a round and three more in the consolation including a win over Tony. Tony and his partner again reached the doubles semi finals. Chris and Chris found it difficult against the older players.
The final tournament was in Auckland. Elias and Tony had a tough draw! After winning their first round matches Elias lost to the #1 seed and Tony went down to the #2 seed. Elias won a round in the consolation and Tony won two matches. Chris Hargrove lost in three sets then won two rounds in the consolation. Chris Sami played well but lost in the first round of the main draw and also in the consolation. Chris and Chris had the best doubles result for the boys, losing in the quarterfinals. Elias and Tony lost to our tough New Caledonia friends.
Our girls did us proud! In a full draw of 32 girls, Tarani defeated Thea in the finals – well done girls! That was the third meeting between these two during our tour, with Tarani winning two of the three matches. Annie lost in the quarterfinals in a third set super TB. Annie and Tarani won the doubles in a very convincing 6-0, 6-0 final. Their semi-final was won in a third set tiebreaker against Thea and her partner. Our girls really impress everyone.
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