• [Photo Gallery] Tennis State Championships
It will be a matchup of defending champions today in the singles finals of the Carlsmith Ball/HHSAA state tennis championships at Mauna Lani Bay on Hawaii island.
In the boys final, second-seeded Marcel Chan, the defending state champion in singles from Kamehameha, will face top-seeded Kawika Lam, a defending state champion in doubles from Punahou.
In girls singles, top-seeded and two-time defending state champion Alyssa Tobita of Mililani will face second-seeded Ashley Ishimura, the defending state champion in doubles from Punahou.
Lam cruised past No. 5 Sage Leaman of Mililani 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Isaiah Brilhante of Waiakea 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals.
Chan battled for his spot in the final. He beat No. 7 Zander Kim of Punahou 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and beat surprising No. 8 Daisuke Nakayama of ‘Iolani 1-6, 6-3, (8) in the semifinals. Until the finals, all matches are just two sets. If each player wins a set, then the winner is determined by a 10-point tiebreaker (must win by two). Chan won the tiebreaker against Nakayama 10-8.
Earlier, Nakayama beat No. 3 Jeffrey Liang of Hawaii Baptist 2-6, 6-2, (10).
Tobita and Ishimura both cruised to the girls finals. Tobita beat No. 7 Diana Wong of Hilo 6-2, 6-2 and No. 4 Emily Soares, also of Hilo, 6-1, 6-2. Ishimura beat No. 8 Kahala Companion of Kamehameha 6-0, 6-1 and No. 3 Skyla Alcon of Mid-Pacific 6-2, 6-1.
In boys doubles, sixth-seeded Jon Costales and Dylan Shen of Punahou will face third-seeded Ryan Adachi and McKenna Fujitani of Punahou.
Costales and Shen ousted the top-seeded team of Travis Lau and Matt Perez, also of Punahou 0-6, 6-2, (5) in the quarterfinals, and beat Jake Frogley and Brendan Moynahan of Hawaii Baptist in the semifinals 6-1, 6-0.
In girls doubles, top-seeded Kara Okazaki and Kristen Poei of ‘Iolani will face third-seeded Katie Kim and Dani Young of Punahou. Kim is a defending state champion in doubles. She teamed with Ishimura last season.
