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Kauai surfer Bethany Hamilton upset world No. 1 Tyler Wright and six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore at today’s Fiji Women’s Pro.
Hamilton won her second-round heat with a score of 15.47 while Wright scored 14.90. In the third round, Hamilton scored 15.47 to Gilmore’s 14.77 and advanced to the quarterfinals.
Local duo falls in USTA semifinals
Jace Akagi-Okuma of Wahiawa and Seann Esaki of Honolulu reached the semifinals of the Boys 18 Doubles draw before falling in the USTA National Selection Tournament on Sunday at Central Oahu Regional Park.
Akagi-Okuma and Esaki, the third-seeded duo, defeated Conrad Russell and Cotter Wilson 8-6 in the quarterfinals then lost to second-seeded Robert Baylon and Randy Cory in the semifinals. Baylon and Cory face Connor Hance and Jake Sands of California in today’s final.
In the boys 18 singles draw, top-seeded Hance of Torrance, Calif., takes on third-seeded Joseph Rotheram of Manhattan Beach, Calif., in the semifinals. Keegan Smith, the second seed from San Diego, takes on Sands of Pacific Palisades, Calif., in the other semifinal.
Abigail Chiu of Austin, Texas, the girls 18 top seed, survived a third-set tiebreaker in the round of 16 then swept her quarterfinal match. Second seeded Lexi Milunovich (New Canaan, Conn.), Elle Christensen (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Emilee Duong (Placentia, Calif.) also advanced to the semifinals.
Chiu and Milunovich also form the top seeded girls doubles team and advanced to today’s semifinals.
Sataraka returns to WCWS
Punahou graduate Mysha Sataraka delivered three doubles in a doubleheader to help the No. 12 seed UCLA softball team advance to the Women’s College World Series with twin 2-1 wins over fifth-seeded Oregon on Sunday in Eugene, Ore.
UCLA entered the day needing to beat the host Ducks twice to win the NCAA Super Regional. In Sunday’s first game, Sataraka went 2-for-4 with two doubles and scored the winning run in the ninth inning in the Bruins’ first win of the day.
Sataraka, a senior third baseman, then went 2-for-2 in the finale and her RBI double in the fourth inning gave UCLA a 2-0 lead. The Bruins held off the Ducks and will open the WCWS against Auburn on Thursday in Oklahoma City, Okla.
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