POIPU — Tracy Tucker said the organizers of the Poipu Kai Charity Tennis Summer Challenge were so good, losing on the opening day of the two-day meet did not hurt that much. Tucker, teamed with John Crouse in the Men’s
POIPU — Tracy Tucker said the organizers of the Poipu Kai Charity Tennis Summer Challenge were so good, losing on the opening day of the two-day meet did not hurt that much.
Tucker, teamed with John Crouse in the Men’s A bracket, was eliminated Saturday by the team of Herb Noe and Richard Albrecht, whom spectators described as having played tennis during his collegiate days.
“The organizers do such a great job at putting these tennis matches together,” Tucker said Sunday while watching the Noe and Albrecht team go up against Kimo Honda and Jordan Kukino in the bracket semifinals. “We have so much fun, losing isn’t that bad.”
Carolyn Lum, a longtime tennis advocate, said the turnout was not as great as it could have been, but the tournament proceeded with men’s and women’s A, B and C divisions.
The Poipu Kai Charity Tennis Summer Challenge is a part of the 10-day Koloa Plantation Days celebration. Proceeds from the tournament have been set aside to benefit the Kauai United Way.
Noe and Albrecht finished the morning by being defeated by Honda and Kukino.
“I guess it takes us time to get started,” Albrecht said. “They were all over us by the time we were ready to get going.”
Honda, a former Waimea High School tennis coach, and Kukino, a former Kauai High School tennis player, sat back to watch the semifinal match between Bernie Duarte and Adrian Alvarez and the duo of Mike and Shawn Morimoto.
Krystyna Noe, the tournament coordinator, said she was pleased with the turnout, which included young players, aged 12 and 13 years old, in the Women’s C division, as well as two father-and-son teams who got to play each other during the tournament.
Full tournament results will appear in a future issue of The Garden Island.
