Two years after falling in the Manoa Cup’s semifinal round, Peter Jung and Remington Hirano took the next step on Friday.

One of them will finish the week-long test of nerves and endurance today with the state amateur match-play championship while adding their name to list of winners in Hawaii’s longest running event.

Jung, the top seed in the 64-player Open Division bracket of the 112th Manoa Cup, held off Blaze Akana 2 and 1 to earn a spot in today’s 36-hole final against the third-seeded Hirano, a 3-and-2 winner over Aj Teraoka.

“Rem is a really cool guy. Very fit, so I know he’s not going to gas out,” Jung said. “I haven’t played with Rem in a while. That guy is so poised though. He’s really disciplined.”

Jung earned the top line in the bracket with a 66 in Monday’s qualifying round, while Hirano finished a shot back and was awarded the third seed. They rolled through the first three rounds of match play and survived two matches on Friday to set up today’s 7 a.m. duel at Oahu Country Club.

Hirano returned home last week after his junior year at the University of San Diego and reached the final in an event he first played in as a 14-year-old. He reached the semifinals in 2019 and led early before Evan Kawai, his high school teammate at Punahou and again at San Diego, rallied for the win.

“It’s good to look back and think about how much I’ve grown, not only as a golfer but also as an individual,” Hirano said of his first appearance in the event. “Back then I never really thought about going to the finals, but now having seen all the growth in my game and all the work I’ve put it, it’s nice to be able to have different aspirations.”

Jung, a recent Maryknoll graduate and Washington State signee, reached the Manoa Cup title match two years after seeing a stunning semifinal comeback thwarted by eventual champion Tyler Ota. Jung was 5 down with six holes to play but rallied to force extra holes before Ota advanced with an eagle on the 20th hole.

So despite going 3 up six holes into his match with Akana, Jung wasn’t about to let himself relax until finishing off the victory with a par on No. 17.

“I think match play is awesome because it’s all based on the momentum the player’s in, the positioning, the hole-by-hole,” Jung said. “I feel if you can gauge that correctly, that’s huge leverage.”

Akana, who just finished his freshman season at Sacramento State, chopped into Jung’s lead with a birdie on No. 11 and winning No. 12 with a par.

Jung reached the green on the uphill par-5 13th hole in two shots and a par on the slippery putting surface was enough to regain a 2-up cushion that he protected through the 17th.

“I went from 3 up on the ninth tee box to 1 up (after 12) and I knew I need to win this next hole,” Jung said. “I think that was huge for the momentum shift. You can’t let somebody win three holes in a row.”

Hirano also led throughout his match with Teraoka and was 4 up going into No. 12. Teraoka, a University of Hawaii senior, drew closer with a par on No. 13 and a birdie on No. 14. But an opportunity to further tighten the gap slid by on the 15th green and Hirano finished off the match with a par on the par-3 17th hole.

After surviving two matches on Friday, Hirano said he relied on “just playing really thought-out golf.”

“Picking my targets, I knew that if I missed a shot somewhere it wasn’t going to be too bad, and just understanding when I could go at certain flags and when I had to play away from them,” he said.

Jung began the day by pulling away from 2012 champion Matthew Ma on the back nine to win 4 and 2 in the quarterfinals. Hirano advanced to the semifinals by going the distance to fend off Hawaii Pacific University’s Keita Okada 1 up.

MANOA CUP

Open Division, Quarterfinals

Peter Jung def. Matthew Ma 4 & 2

Blaze Akana def. Marshall Kim 4 & 3

Aj Teraoka def. Joshua Hayashida 2 up

Remington Hirano def. Keita Okada 1 up

Open Division, Semifinals

Peter Jang def. Blaza Akana 2 & 4.

Remington Hirano def. Aj Teraoka 3 & 2.