Champions were crowned recently at the 55th Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship.
Alexa Noel of Summit, NJ entered the tournament as an unseeded player and deprted as the winner of the Girls 14U division. Her consistent and solid play, with the ability to control and harness her emotions, shined bright throughout the week and was on display during the nearly two hours and forty-five minute finals match.
Noel defeated No. 3-seed Qinwen Zheng of China 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to finish off her incredible week in Miami.
“This means a lot,” Noel said. “I’ve never really done well here so I had a little bit more motivation. I went match-by-match, rather than worrying about things that I can’t control.”
In the Girls 12U division, American No. 2-seed Cori Gauff completed a phenomenal week in South Florida with a straight sets championship victory over fellow American and No. 4-seed Katrina Scott. The spark plug Scott pushed Gauff about as hard as she had been tested this week, but Gauff took the title 6-4, 7-6(4).
“It means everything,” Gauff said. “This is my third time competing and I’m glad I was finally able to win it. It was one of my goals I had for the year.”
The Boys’ 12U division title was quite the battle between Raleigh, NC native Victor Lilov and Fort Lauderdale product Bruno Kuzuhara. Lilov dropped the first set 0-6 before storming back and winning the next two sets 6-2, 6-4.
In the Boys’ 14U division, Chinese No. 1-seed Buyun Chaokete followed his heroic performance from the previous day’s semifinal to take home the ultimate prize. Chaokete beat American Alex Lee 6-4, 6-4 to capture the championship in his division. It was the only finals matchup between two top seeds and Chaokete was the only No. 1 seed to win his respective division.
Golf
Australia’s Karl Vilips and Somi Lee from South Korea are the 53rd Junior Orange Bowl International champions.
Vilips posted a final-day 2-under par 69 for a four-day 12-under-par total of 272. Lee carded an even-par 71, her first round of the week over 70, which was good for a one-stroke victory over France’s Agathe Laisne. In an exciting down-to-the-wire finish, both players birdied their last two holes.
A chilly morning with swirling winds gusting to 20-plus mph put some extra bite in the famed Donald Ross golf course at the Biltmore Hotel, players often stuck between clubs for approach shots where, particularly on long water-guarded par-fours, estimating the wind force becomes critical.
The Boys tournament came to an exhilarating climax. With the final three players, Vilips, France’s Edgar Catherine and defending champion Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan all tied at 10-under par, Vilips sealed his wire-to-wire victory with a 25-yard pitch from just short of the putting surface on the closing par five that skipped once, twice, then disappeared directly into the cup for an eagle three.
“It feels fantastic,” the winner said, expressing an emotive mixture of euphoria and relief. “I did not have a lot of good stuff today. My driving was off and my putting was a struggle and I was never able to get anything going. But well, that one shot really changes everything and I’m absolutely delighted.”
He didn’t say so, but his crucial curling five-footer par-save on the 71st hole made it all possible and proved why this 15-year old Australian has a huge future in the game.
Catherine proved he has plenty of heart, fighting back from a double-bogey at the ninth, where his tee ball caught a tree branch near the tee. Defending champion Reitan bunkered his long-iron approach to the final hole and had to settle for par and third place. Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, the 2014 champion, carded a strong 68 to claim fourth spot in this strongly international field.
The Girls tournament turned into an equally thrill-filled final which went to the wire, South Korea’s Somi Lee getting up and down at the final hole for a birdie-four that cemented a one-stroke victory over France’s Agathe Laisne with Canada’s Monet Chun in third place. Laisne also placed second last year.
“This is my first tournament outside my home country and I’ve been very nervous,” Lee said through an interpreter. “So obviously I’m delighted to have played well when it mattered.”
No shot more crucial, in retrospect, than her approach to the water-guarded 17th, where she followed Laisne’s flag-tight approach with one that was even closer.
“I did everything I could today,” the repeat runner-up said. “I can’t be disappointed by that. I gave away a few shots in earlier rounds, and that was the difference.”
Basketball
The Junior Orange Bowl hosted it’s 28th Basketball Classic, Dec. 28-30, at Miami Palmetto Senior High School. The tournament included a total of 16 high school teams from around the nation; eight boys teams, and eight girls teams competed for the coveted Junior Orange Bowl Basketball Classic champions title.
The finals took place on Friday, Dec. 30 after three days of intense competitions. The Long Island Lutheran (NY) girls’ team played in the championship game against Nova High School, winning 39-30; and, on the boys side, Mt. St. Joseph (Baltimore, MD) proved victorious over South Miami High School, winning 69-57.
The Junior Orange Bowl Basketball Classic will continue with the Girls Junior Varsity Classic on Jan. 27-28 and the Boys Junior Varsity Classic on Feb. 3-4; both events will be taking place at the Miami Springs Recreation Center. For more information visit http://jrorangebowl.org/girls-basketball and http://jrorangebowl.org/boys-basketball or call 305-662-1210.
