PO‘IPU — Chas Okamoto, the top Boys Singles tennis player in the state, finished his summer on a winning note, teaming with Herb Noe to take the Summer Classic Sunday at the Po‘ipu Kai tennis courts. The Noe/Okamoto duo downed
PO‘IPU — Chas Okamoto, the top Boys Singles tennis player in the state, finished his summer on a winning note, teaming with Herb Noe to take the Summer Classic Sunday at the Po‘ipu Kai tennis courts.
The Noe/Okamoto duo downed the team of Sterling Inouye and Shawn Morimoto, 6-2, 7-5 for the win in the Men’s A division of the Challenge, which was part of the weeklong Koloa Plantation Days celebration.
Coordinating through the Kaua‘i Tennis Association, the charity doubles event also benefited Kaua‘i United Way.
Okamoto finished his high school career as the No. 1 boys’ player for Kapa‘a High School, advancing to the state’s Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association finals, where he finished tops in the boys’ singles division.
The Kapa‘a High School graduate will be heading to the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa as a Regent Scholar and will be playing tennis for the Rainbows.
Sarah Kukino, Okamoto’s counterpart at Kaua‘i High School, teamed with Barbara Hubbard to top the Women’s A division with a 6-2, 6-4 win over the duo of Loutoa Zoller and Jenifer Hreljac.
“This is the last hurrah for a lot of the younger players who will be heading off to college as well as those who are home for the summer from college,” said Juan Lorenzo, a longtime tennis advocate on Kaua‘i.
Kimo Honda, the coach at Waimea High School, teamed with Kanoa Fujita and needed a three-set tiebreaker to get past Dylan Wehrly and Meynard Enriquez, 6-3, 2-6, 1-0(10-7) for the title of the Men’s B division, wrapping up a long day after battling for three sets in the semis to advance to the finals.
Rosemary Smythe teamed with Laura Conrey to take the Women’s B division with a 6-3, 7-5 edge over the team of Judy Honda and Kris Ferguson.
Jim Flipert and Rick Randolph were 6-3, 6-4 winners over Drew Vento and Brian Stein to wrap up the Men’s C division and Melanie Cerrias and Shannon Burkman wrapped up the Women’s C division with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Paula Nishi and JoAnn DiLeonardo.
Pamai Cano and Kathy Wesolowski dropped their opening round to DiLeonardo and Nishi, Saturday, 4-6, 3-6, but posted a strong comeback, winning the Women’s C Consolation semifinals, 6-1, 6-0 over Shantel Rita and Brittney Valencia to advance to the consolation finals, where they faced Carolyn Lum and Kirstie Kashima, who made their way to the consolation finals after dropping their opening round to Donna and Rachel Umetsu, 4-6, 6-7(8-6), Saturday.
The Lum/Kashima pair battled back with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Masae Suzuki and Lynelle Hughes to face Wesolowski and Cano Sunday morning; Cano and Wesolowski emerged with a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(10-6) edge for the consolation title.
The 2010 charity tournaments at Po‘ipu Kai tennis courts generated more than $6,600 for Kaua‘i United Way.
Visit www.kctennis2009.webs.com/summerclassicdraw.htm for more information and bracket scores.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
