PO‘IPU — Sarah Kukino came out with two gold medals from the Kiahuna Tennis Courts Sunday. Second seeded in the Girls 14 Singles of the Kaua‘i Fall Junior Open tennis tournament, Kukino upset top-seeded Ceara Sumida, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 10-5
PO‘IPU — Sarah Kukino came out with two gold medals from the Kiahuna Tennis Courts Sunday.
Second seeded in the Girls 14 Singles of the Kaua‘i Fall Junior Open tennis tournament, Kukino upset top-seeded Ceara Sumida, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 10-5 for that top honor.
She added a doubles win, teaming with Darin Poei, for another gold medal. En route to the championship match, the pair saw Kukino, of Kaua‘i, battle another Kauaian, Jade Cano, who teamed up with Paul Okuda for the Mixed 14 Doubles.
The Kukino/Poei team bested Cano/Okuda, 8-2 in the quarterfinals. Cano and Okuda had earlier defeated the team of Claire Michel and Henry Conner Yim, 8-4 to meet up with the top seeded team who had an opening round bye.
Jade Cano, also playing in the Girls 14 Singles, was downed in the quarterfinals with a loss to Kaylene Matsuzaki, 7-5, 6-2.
“You have to make like the photographer isn’t there,” Jonathan Tom, one of the Kapa‘a High School tennis coaches and the father of Lindsey Tom, advised Kukino after she modestly said she didn’t like having her picture taken.
Lindsey Tom, seeded second in the Girls 18 Singles, advanced through the semifinals of that division by besting Britney Ragunton, 6-0, 4-6, 11-9. That brought her to the championship where she fell to top-seeded Kristen Lim, 6-3, 6-4.
But Lindsey walked off with her share of winnings when she paired with Fernando Aguirregomezcorta to win the Mixed 16 Doubles by defeating the team of Mari Tadaki and Devin Anderson, 8-6 in the finals.
In the Girls 18 Singles division, Candice Klein made it to the quarterfinals where she was defeated by Ragunton, 6-0, 6-0.
Tarryn Orial got past Holly Weisel, 6-3, 7-5 in the Girls 10 Singles, but fell in the semifinals to Zoey Akagi-Bustin, 6-0, 6-2.
Chas Okamoto, who suffered a re-injury during his singles match, teamed with Ashley Nakaoka in the Mixed 16 Doubles, but fell to the team of Tadaki/Anderson, 8-7 (2) in the semifinals of that division.
In the Boys 14 Singles, Okamoto made it to the semifinals where he was bested by Brandon Lee 6-1, 6-4.
Sterling Inouye, playing in the Boys 18 Singles, was ousted in the quarterfinals of that division when he dropped to Austin Zito, 6-2, 6-1.
Jerik Centeno, another Kaua‘i player in the 80-player field, teamed with Chloe Gadsden in the Mixed 12 Doubles, but fell to the team of Cameron Michel and Rebecca Yim, 8-2 in the semifinals. That division was won by the top-seeded team of Kristen Poei and Daniel Tada who downed the Michel/Yim duo, 6-2, 6-2 in the championship match.
Centeno also fell to Cameron in the opening round of the Boys 12 Singles, 7-6 (5), 6-0. That division was taken by unseeded Thomas Nguyen who upset top seeded Daniel Tada in the semis, 6-2, 7-6 before besting Sebastian Barahal, 7-5, 6-0 for the division crown.
Dylan Wehrly dropped his opening round in the Boys 16 Singles against Nick Smith, 6-4, 6-0. Wehrly’s father explained that it was Dylan’s first experience in the Boys 16 while Smith was enjoying his last experience in that division.
Smith fell to second-seeded Joshua Wong, 6-1, 6-3, in the quarterfinals of that division that was taken by fourth-seeded Aguirregomezcorta who defeated third-seeded James Lee, 6-2, 6-1 in the finals.
Jackie Owens, top seeded in the Girls 16 Singles, staved off a strong effort by second-seeded Jan Matsumoto, 2-6, 7-5, 10-8. It was Matsumoto’s second three-game set after she defeated third-seeded Tadaki, 6-4-2-6, 10-8 in the semis.
Third-seed Julia Weisel upset top seed Kristen Poei, 6-0, 6-0, for the title in the Girls 12 Singles. Earlier, Weisel got past Dani Young, 6-0, 6-0, in the semifinals after Young upset second-seeded Brooke Alcuran, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of that division.
Unseeded Karen Yamashita upset top seed Diana Wong, 6-0, 6-4 in the semis of the Girls 10 Singles to meet Zoey Akagi-Bustin for the division title. That match saw Yamashita continue her control of the court with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Akagi-Bustin for the crown.
Carolyn Lum, the tournament director, spearheaded a team of volunteers who made the two-day tournament a success despite the on-and-off bouts of rain on opening day.
There were 80 players taking part in the tournament with Kaua‘i having its share of players in the mix.
Bradley Cano, playing in the Boys 10 Singles, also fell in the semifinals, Rohan Watumull advancing with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Cano before upsetting top seeded Jace Akagi-Okuma, 7-6, 6-4 for that division title.
