POIPU — Tia Fulks and Anna Burkman finished as finalists in Women’s C after being defeated by Avis Hirahara and Helen Young, 6-4, 6-4 in the Charity Tennis Summer Challenge finals this weekend. It was the second time Fulks and
POIPU — Tia Fulks and Anna Burkman finished as finalists in Women’s C after being defeated by Avis Hirahara and Helen Young, 6-4, 6-4 in the Charity Tennis Summer Challenge finals this weekend.
It was the second time Fulks and Burkman lost to the Hirahara and Young pair, dropping the first meeting Saturday afternoon when the eventual bracket champions beat the young players, 6-3, 6-1 in the first flight.
During the semifinals, 13-year-olds Fulks and Burkman were pitted against Jessica Hreljac and Kathrine O’neil who had advanced with two wins in the second flight. The battle between the young players went to a tie-breaker with Fulks and Burkman advancing to the finals with a 75-, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8) win.
“This is Jessica’s first tournament,” said her mom, Jennifer Hreljac, who earlier claimed finalist honors with Sue Anderson in the Women’s A bracket. “She and Kathrine did great, winning her two flight matches.”
Lani Rae Green, a recent graduate of Waimea High School, paired with Michelle Fitzgerald to claim the Women’s A bracket, defeating Jennifer Hreljac, Jessica’s mother, and Sue Anderson, 7-6, 6-2.
“This is good to have so many families playing,” said Krystyna Noe, the tournament coordinator. “We even had two father-and-son teams who got to play against each other.”
David and Sasha Rovinsky were paired against Mike and Shawn Yamane in the opening set of the Men’s C bracket, Saturday morning. The Yamane duo won, 6-1, 6-4 over the Rovinsky duo before being taken out, 6-1, 6-3 by the team of Tony Renkin and Mitchel Evans.
Renkin and Evans eventually advanced to claim the Men’s C bracket with a 6-1, 6-0 win over the duo of Steve Hollinger and John McFarland.
Scott Nakamatsu, a coach with the Waimea High School tennis program, paired with Terrance Hirabara to claim the Men’s B bracket over Alan Miyashiro and David Lee, 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (11-9).
Kimo Honda, a former coach with the Waimea High School tennis team, paired with Kauai High School alumnus Jordon Kukino to claim the Men’s A bracket on a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mike Morimoto and Shawn Morimoto. The Morimoto pairsurvived a three-set semifinals, 5-7, 6-0, 1-0 (11-9) over Bernie Duarte and Adrian Alvarez.
Proceeds from the Charity Tennis Summer Challenge, part of the 10-day Koloa Plantation Days celebration, went to benefit the Kauai United Way.
