As today’s finalists were determined Friday at the Island Insurance/HHSAA State Tennis Championships at Central Oahu Regional Park, there were two recurring themes: chalk and Punahou.
The top two seeds advanced to the title match with just one exception. And six of the eight remaining entrants are Buffanblu, keeping the school on course to notch its 20th straight state girls team title and the boys their third straight boys team championship.
Punahou seniors Payton Jim On and Elise Wong will have a chance to go 3-for-3 in singles titles today.
Jim On, seeded second, beat eighth-seeded Kawelo Tsuneyoshi of ‘Iolani 6-1. 6-3 in the quarterfinals and third-seeded Iori Furuhata of Waiakea 6-3, 6-0 in the semis. Jim On will face his top-seeded teammate, Brandon Ramos, in today’s final. Ramos advanced Friday with wins over sixth seed Reyn Terao of Mililani (6-2, 6-0) and fourth-seeded Gervase Ngo of ‘Iolani.
The top-seeded Wong swept eighth-seeded Maile-Jei Li of Kealakehe (6-2, 6-1) and third-seeded Kiora Kunimoto of Waiakea (7-5, 6-3) on Friday. She will meet second-seeded Ashley Kurizaki of Moanalua, who beat seventh seed Lucy Teramura of Kalaheo (6-0, 6-1) and fifth seed Karli Vo of ‘Iolani (6-0, 6-2).
Punahou’s Tanner Ige goes for a three-peat in boys doubles with Alexander Doane his new partner this year. The Buffanblu pair breezed past unseeded Bryson Rola/Eric Topacio of Kalani 6-0, 6-2 in the quarters and then got past third-seeded teammates Conner Kurata/Seiya Kudo 6-2, 7-5. Advancing from the other side of the draw was the second- seeded team of Spencer Yamamoto/Glen Ngo of ‘Iolani, which defeated a pair of fellow Raiders duos Friday — eighth-seeded Makai Monaco and Ben Arrillaga 6-2, 6-2 and fifth-seeded Sid Srinivasan/Carter Beppu 6-2, 6-0.
Third-seeded pair Maya Eastburg/Mia Tom of Punahou crashed the girls doubles final with wins over unseeded Kristen Felte/Mia Okazaki of Kealakehe (6-0, 6-0) and second-seeded Jade Igawa/Chloe Takahashi of Waiakea 6-4, 6-2. They’ll face Buffanblu teammates Jariahlyn Rhoades/Logan Tiom in the final today. The top seeds made it there with a 6-1, 6-0 win over seventh-seeded Kaiya Ideta/Annika Nishida of Waiakea and a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Mid-Pacific’s Margaret Hoe/Denise Takenaka, the fourth seeds.
The finals are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. today at CORP.
