THE Pacific Oceania Junior team featuring Natabua High School student Mulan Kamoe stood out during the Fed Cup pre-qualifying tournament at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Centre in Kuching, Malaysia last week.
Pacific Oceania making it first appearance in the competition since 2007, impressed in the girl’s under-16 division.
Tammy Ackerman of the Northern Marianas and Ayana Rengiil of Palau were also part of the team which swept aside Sri Lanka 3-0 in the final.
Kamoe defeated Janali Manamperi 6-1, 6-2; Ackerman beat Medhira Samarasinghe 6-4, 6-1 while Rengiil downed Rukshika 6-1, 6-1.
In the round robin matches, Pacific Oceania seeded fourth upset top seed Singapore 2-1 and then beat Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan 3-0 respectively.
The team will now progress to the Asia/Oceania Junior Fed Cup qualifying event in Shepparton, Victoria, Australia from April 8-13.
Fiji Tennis Association executive member Naga Reddy said the results proved that the International Tennis Federation (ITF) program in the region was heading in the right direction.
Reddy said the Easter Open Championship in Lautoka next month would be interesting with the involvement of the regional ITF scholarship holders.
Annie Shannon won the women’s open title last year while Terry Rush won the men’s open title.
