The CNMIs Carol Lee is among the three Pacific Oceania players who are seeded in the girls singles event of the 2017 Oceania Closed Junior Championships that will kick off today at the Regional Training Center in Lautoka, Fiji.

Lee is seeded fourth in the tournament that is part of the ITF Juniors Circuit. Siblings Violet and Patricia Apisah of Papua New Guinea are the other seeded players (No. 1 and 5) from Pacific Oceania. Australias Lisa Mays and Olivia Gadecki are seeded No. 2 and 3, respectively, while Amber Marshall, also of Australia, and New Zealands Valentina Ivanov and Oleksandra Kalachova complete the Top 8 seeding.

The seeded players will be paired against lower-ranked entries in the first round. The womens singles draw has yet to be posted on the events website as deadline for registration was set yesterday at 6pm (Fiji time).

The Oceania Closed is B2 tournament and the fourth highest in the ITF Juniors Circuit as far as the number of rankings points awarded is concerned. The highest is Grade A (Grand Slam events), which offers 250 points to the singles champions, and is followed by Grade 1 (150), and B1 (180). B3 gives 80 points to the singles winner, while Grades 2 to 5 events award 100, 60, 40, and 30, respectively.

Tomorrows competition will be Lees second highest this season after she competed in the Grade 1 Mediterrane Avenir in Morocco last May. In her return appearance to the Oceania Closed Junior Championships, the world ranked No. 240 Lee hopes for a better results after making an early exit in the Round of 16 of both the singles and doubles events last year.

Besides Lee, the unseeded Isabel Heras and Robbie will represent the Commonwealth in the B2 tournament. Completing the roster of Pacific Oceania players entered in this high-level competition are Solomon Islands Georjemah Row, Junior Benjamin, Graham Mani, and Vinda Teally, Fijis Vienna Kumar and Ruby Coffin, American Samoas Larry Magasin, Samoas Eleanor Schuster, Tahitis Naia Guitton and Jeremy Guines, Vanuatus Clement Mainguy, and Guams Mason Caldwell.

Originally posted here:

Carol seeded in Junior ITF tourney in Fiji - Saipan Tribune