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The Honolulu Interscholastic League is the latest league to compete in the HMSA/HHSAA State Tennis Championships at the Royal Lahaina Tennis Ranch.
Punahou took six of eight spots in Friday’s final, with the other two going to Mid-Pacific’s Kylie Canubida in girls’ singles and top team Iolani in girls’ doubles.
Punahou will win the boys’ singles title for the first time since Hall of Honor inductee Kawika Lam graduated in 2015. Punahou’s Payton teammates Jim On and Brandon Ramos will battle for the title after semi-final sweeps final. Jim On, the No. 1 seed, has lost just two games in the tournament after semi-final opponent Gervase Ngo of Iolani pulled out in the second set. Ramos was pushed to beat Iori Furuhata of Waiakea 6-1, 6-4.
The Buffanblu will have to work to secure the women’s singles title, with top seed Elise Wong of Punahou taking on the No. 2 seed Canubida. Wong fought her way through the tournament to make it to the final, but Canubida had to hang on to beat Kalaheo’s No. 4 Larissa Teramura 2-6, 6-3(7) in the semis.
Duplicate draws saw some minor upheavals.
No. 3 Alex Kinoshita and Aidan Baracao of Punahou beat teammates and second seeds Cole Kurata and Connor Kurata 6-3, 6-7 (5), (8) in the semifinals and will meet another pair of teammates in the final in the top-seeded Tsubasa Okada and Tanner Ige. So far, the top seeds have fought their way through the tournament.
The other upset came in an intra-squad Punahou girls’ doubles match, where No. 3 Jariahyn Rhoades and Sophia Woofter outscored No. 2 Harley Wolters and Leyanne Hirota 5-7, 6-3, ( 10) in the semi-finals. They will meet top seeds Julia Visaya and Karli Vo of ‘Iolani.
Punahou has an overwhelming lead in the team races, with the boys leading Waiakea by six points and the girls ahead of Mid-Pacific by eight points. Punahou has won the women’s title 17 years in a row.
