PO‘IPU — Winners and losers alike shared a common sentiment following the weekend action at the Kiahuna Swim and Tennis Club.
“You should have seen the crowd here Saturday,” said Glenn Ikemoto, one of the fans who watched the action Sunday. “This place was packed.”
Debborah Gia, who was preparing to take the court, agreed.
“I’m a singles player, so I wasn’t going to play, but they said they would find me a partner if I agreed to play,” Gia said.
Gia, who partnered with Nena Costales, Saturday, finished in second place in the Women’s C division, dropping 8-1, against the team of Shirlene Erickson and Midi Yamanaka. That Erickson-Yamanaka win gave the team four wins for the title with Gia and Costales finishing with three wins for the finalist position.
“This is only the first of four planned tournaments,” said Paulette Lum, one of the players as well as one of the coaches for the Waimea High School tennis team. “There are three more scheduled for the year, and it’s good because the organizers said they’ll work around the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation schedule so the kids can come out to play, too.”
Dan Miyamoto, a longtime tennis enthusiast, said there are plans to bring in the Junior Tennis players as well.
Waimea High School had most of its 2008 KIF tennis players out for the tournament.
“This is good for the players,” Lum said. “It allows them to play other players outside of the league, and in some cases, they are playing against players at different levels which only helps them develop their own skills.”
Lum is hopeful the other high school players will come out for future tournaments.
Herb Noe and Darren White defeated Gary Joseph and James Hasenyager 7-5, 7-6 to lay claim to the title in the Mens A division, Saturday.
Bill Schulman and Manny Rivera defeated Kimo Honda and Ryan Kakuda 8-5 in a playoff match for the title in the Mens B division after both teams finished with three wins in round robin play.
Sy Francisco and Sean Franciso defeated Ken Grenbaum and Alan Case 6-3 in another playoff match to settle the title for the Mens C division.
Kathryn Bieker and Michelle Martinez defeated the team of Loutoa Zoller and Karen Isu-migawa 6-1, 6-1 for the title and finalist slots in the Womens A division, also on Saturday.
Joyce Yamase and Karen Goria finished with two playoff wins over Rebecca O’Brien and Ann O’Neil and the team of Mari Anderson and Krystyna Noe to settle the title in the Womens B division that saw a three-way tie heading into the playoffs.
Herb Noe and Kathryn Bieker previaled over Loutoa Zoller and Welf Zoller for the Mixed A title and finalist slots, Sunday.
The team of Karen Izumigawa and Dave Gallenson defeated Krystyna Noe and Roy Yokotake for the Mixed B finals.
Maricel Illastron and Kelley Perez defeated the team of Ginger Allen and Kyle Larson for the Mixed C title.
The tournament was coordinated and hosted by Tom Edlefsen and the Kiahuna Swim and Tennis Club after Edlefsen was approached about the need for a Kaua‘i tournament so players wouldn’t have to incur the expenses of traveling to off-island tournaments.
