PO‘IPU — The team of Bino Fitzgerald and Darron White edged out Bernie Duarte and Dylan Werhly to claim the Men’s A Doubles title, Sunday at the Po‘ipu Kai tennis courts. The Fall Challenge, hosted by the Po‘ipu Kai Charity
PO‘IPU — The team of Bino Fitzgerald and Darron White edged out Bernie Duarte and Dylan Werhly to claim the Men’s A Doubles title, Sunday at the Po‘ipu Kai tennis courts.
The Fall Challenge, hosted by the Po‘ipu Kai Charity Tennis program, benefits the Kaua‘i United Way through its tournaments which promotes fun and fellowship through tennis events.
During the finals of the Men’s A Doubles, the Fitzgerald/White duo worked through a 7-6 (7-1) first set before claiming the title, 6-4.
Both teams in the finals of the had to work for its berths the eventual title win.
Fitzgerald and White dropped its opener in the quarterfinals to the team of Shawn and Josh, 3-6, 6-4, 0-1 (10-7), but rebounded against the Adrian/Charlie duo, 6-0, 6-1 to advance to the semis where they met Brant and Herb.
That match was a worker, Fitzgerald and White advancing to the finals following a three-set win, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
Earlier, the Brant/Herb duo handed the Duarte/Werhly pair its first loss of the tournament, 6-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-7), in the quarterfinals.
But the Duarte/Werhley pair rebounded with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Shawn and Josh before being edged out in the finals.
Joy Kukino, the Kaua‘i High School tennis coach, teamed with Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation player Lani Rae Green to relegate Judy Honda and Kristen Fuchigami to finalist honors, 6-1, 6-0 in a short draw field in the Women’s A division.
More KIF tennis names surfaced as Waimea High School coaches Kimo Honda and Scott Nakamatsu teamed to edge past the duo of Mikey Morimoto and Clifton Kukino, 7-6(6-4), 6-3 in the Men’s B division.
Kaua‘i High School doubles players Jerick Centeno and Matt Kanna teamed to take the consolation of that division, beating the team of Justin and Darrel, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).
“They’ll be the ones to keep an eye on during this KIF season,” Nakamatsu said. “Right now, they’re the doubles team to beat.”
Michelle Fitzgerald teamed with Barb Childers to take the Women’s B division, 6-0, 3-6, 1-0 (10-5) over the team of Rosemary Smythe and Laura Conroy in another tightly contested division.
Fitzgerald and Childers finished with three wins, but only after overcoming two three-set matches, its first coming in the quarterfinals where they edged past Shannon and Melanie, 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-2).
The Smythe/Conroy duo opened with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Sarah and Sonya, but dropped two straight to end as finalists for the division.
Ron Olden teamed with Lito Odoya to claim the Men’s C division, 6-4, 6-0 over Stan Sucher and Larry Bloumquist, the Olden/Odoya duo ending 3-0, while Sucher and Bloumquist finished 2-1.
The duo of Maria Whatmore and Cindy Anderson finished the Women’s C Division, 3-0, clinching the title with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Masae Suzuki and Lynelle Hughes who ended the tournament 2-1.
The next Po‘ipu Kai Charity Tournament will be the Toys for Tots Men’s and Women’s Doubles, Dec. 10 and 11 at the Po‘ipu Kai tennis courts.
This is a two-day event with Sunday scheduled as a Fun Day with games and prizes for all ages.
Visit www.kctennis2009.webs.com for more information, or to register for the tournament.
