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Sproat dominates MMA Awards
Middleweight Sale Sproat earned three awards, including fighter of the year, as MMA Hawaii announced the results of its online voting at the Big Boys & MMA Hawaii Expo at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall yesterday.
Sproat also picked up the promising fight of the year and middleweight of the year awards. Mark Oshiro earned two awards—well-rounded overall fighter and bantamweight fighter of the year—and his bout with Filipe Chavez was voted fight of the year.
Other fighter of the year awards went to: Danny Lopez, comeback; Lolohea Mahe, heavyweight; Matt Eaton, light heavy; and Dylan Clay, welterweight. Also, Nate Quinola, lightweight; Dustin Kimura, featherweight; Kailan Curran, top female; and Ben Santiago, most popular.
Dino Fernandez was named coach of the year.
3 recent grads earn scholarships
Three recent Hawaii high school graduates are among 70 to receive scholarships from USTA Serves, the National Charitable Foundation of the United States Tennis Association.
Konawaena’s Jessica Ching and Mililani’s Melissa Monetter were among 56 awarded a $6,000 scholarship. McKinley’s Quoc Huynh was one of seven to receive a $1,000 College Textbook Scholarship.
The foundation awards are given to student-athletes who have "excelled academically, demonstrated community service and participated in an organized tennis program."
Ex-HPU standout wins ITF match
Former Hawaii Pacific All-American Hendrik Bode won his first-round match at the Guam Futures, an ITF event played earlier this month at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa Tennis Club in Tumon.
Bode, currently the HPU assistant tennis coach, beat Chul-Hee Lee of Korea 6-2, 6-0 before falling to seventh-seeded Australian Joel Lindner. Ji Hoon Heo, who will play for HPU in the fall, qualified for the main draw but fell to Lindner in the first round.
Word of Life graduate Daniel Llarenas, a University of Hawaii senior, and UH-Hilo junior Justin Dugan, who is from Guam, also fell in the opening round. Both received wild cards.
Hawaii’s Joseph Kasnetz lost in the second round of qualifying.
Golf benefit for junior tennis
The Kahiau Foundation will hold its inaugural charity golf tournament July 23 at the Hawaii Prince Golf Club. Proceeds will benefit junior tennis in Hawaii.
The cost is $150 per player in the three-person scramble with a noon shotgun start. The entry deadline is July 9.
Call 585-9526 for more information about registering and sponsorship opportunities.
USTA Honolulu Challenger on tap
Sponsorship packages are now available for the USTA Pro Circuit’s 2011 Honolulu Challenger, Jan. 23 to 30, at the Patsy T. Mink CORP Tennis Complex.
Packages from $100 to $5,000. For more information, contact Melissa Pampulov at the USTA Hawaii Pacific Section office (585-9512).
American Michael Russell won this year’s $50,000 Challenger, sweeping Slovenia’s Grega Zemlja in the final. The victory bumped Russell’s ranking to No. 90 in the world, and was his 22nd on the Pro Circuit, a tour record.
Russell came to Hawaii from the Australian Open, where he fell to 2010 U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro in the second round.
