Key junior events return to Pacific Oceania for first time since 2019

It has been a long wait – at times it has felt interminable – but a series of major junior events and key developmental competitions have returned to the Pacific Oceania region for the first time in three years.

Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, not since 2019 has Pacific Oceania hosted ITF Regional Championships, which act as qualifying tournaments for the latter stages of team and individual competitions in the region.

That all changed, however, when Lautoka, Fiji staged the ITF West Pacific Regional Championships and Auckland, New Zealand put on the ITF East Pacific Regional Championships.

“Having these events back on the Pacific Oceania calendar this year was crucial for our junior players and their development,” Gary Purcell, the ITF’s Development Officer for Pacific Oceania, told itftennis.com.

“The border closures in this part of the world made it very difficult for players to be able to travel and play much needed competition for more than two and a half years, so it was great to see so many juniors from the individual nations compete.

“Despite the barriers faced by all Pacific Oceania nations, grassroots and junior tennis development has continued to grow and thrive at local level, and many of the players we saw during these championships were playing their first international tennis tournament.

“In addition, for a lot of the 12-and-under players, it was their first overseas experience and a big moment in their development. I’ve no doubt that all players involved had a great experience."

The ITF West Pacific Regional Championships in Fiji were the bigger of the two events, with a 12-and-under team competition taking place at the same time as 14-and-under and 16-and-under regional championships.

A total of 29 players from Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu competed in the 12-and-under team tournament, while more than 40 competitors from all four nations contested the individual age-group draws.

In 12-and-under team event, the boys’ and girls’ teams from Fiji and Vanuatu progressed to the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships, which will also be staged in Fiji, in September.

A host of players also sealed their place at the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in the individual events, including qualifying winners Yash Morriswala (Fiji), Deevansh Singh (Fiji), Pauline Hyun (Papua New Guinea) and Grace Debalevu (Fiji).

In Auckland, players from Cook Islands, Samoa and Tahiti all pitted their wits against each other. Samoa were the best performing boys’ team in the 12-and-under event, while Tahiti topped the podium in the girls’ equivalent.

In the individual championships, meanwhile, Keanau Lei Foc (Tahiti), Toaiva Busby (Samoa), Junior Maka Maui (Cook Islands) and Mahinerangi Warren (Samoa) all starred.

The ITF North Pacific Regional Championships are next on the calendar, starting on Monday. This event will take place in Guam and will see teams and individuals from Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and Federated States of Micronesia compete.