Sarah Kukino and Lani Rae Green went undefeated over the weekend to win their individual divisions in the Wailuku Winter Junior Sectionals tournament at the Wailuku Tennis Club. Chas Okamoto won three straight matches and, like Kukino and Green, earned
Sarah Kukino and Lani Rae Green went undefeated over the weekend to win their individual divisions in the Wailuku Winter Junior Sectionals tournament at the Wailuku Tennis Club.
Chas Okamoto won three straight matches and, like Kukino and Green, earned his way to the finals.
All three Kaua‘i tennis players entered the tournament as the No. 2 seeds.
Kukino, in the Girls 16 division, defeated Darci Orikasa, 6-0, 6-0 in the Round of 16 and beat Kimberly Takara 6-2, 6-2 in the qualifiers. Kukino was then forced to three sets in the semifinals by Bobbi Oshiro with Kukino coming out on top, 6-2, 2-6 and 6-2.
Kukino was pushed to a tie break in the first set of the finals against Karlene Pang.
Pang won 7-6 (4), but Kukino won the next two 6-2, 6-2.
Green won two straight before earning her spot in the finals in the Girls 12 division.
Green beat Skyla Alcon, 6-0, 6-3, then Sari Kwee 6-2, 7-5. Green won the division by beating Chloe Gadsen in two sets, 6-2 and 6-4.
Okamoto, in the Boys 16 division, beat Kaito Mizutani in three sets 6-4, 4-6 and 6-3, and Kento Tanaka Tamaki, 6-3 and 6-1.
Okamato met William Chen in the semifinals and won 6-2 and 7-5. Okamoto was then defeated by No. 1 Marco Kobayashi, who had also won three straight matches in the tournament prior to the finals, 6-2 and 6-3.
