ISLE FILE
All-California finals in national tennis tourney
Advertiser Staff
Fifth-seeded Walker Keher defeated top-seeded Steve Johnson, 6-3, 6-3, yesterday in the boys 18 singles semifinals of the USTA Boys & Girls National Open at the Central O'ahu Regional Park Tennis Complex.
Although both are from Southern California, Keher and Johnson had never played each other in a tournament.
"He's one of the top players in our section and I've always wanted to play him," Keher said. "I was going into this match really wanting to win."
Keher, of Pacific Palisades, Calif., will play second-seeded Kyle McMorrow, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., in today's final. McMorrow advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Jason Lin.
The girls 18 singles final will match top seed Catherine Isip, of Anaheim, Calif., against third-seeded Zoe De Bruycker, of Saratoga, Calif. Isip ousted Kaitlyn Christian, 7-6 (5), 6-0, and De Bruycker beat second-seeded Tayler Davis, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Play starts at 9 a.m. today.
MORE TENNIS
LAM FALLS IN QUALIFIER
Playing in the first ATP event of his career, Honolulu's Chris Lam lost to American Scott Oudsema in the opening round of qualifying at the $436,000 SAP Open in San Jose, Calif. The scores were 7-5, 6-2.
Lam, ranked No. 703 in the world, fought off three break points in the 11th game before Oudsema delivered a forehand winner to take the lead at 6-5. He went on to win that set and got an early break in the second.
BODYBOARDING
BRAZILIAN SCORES A 10
Brazil's Erisberto Abrantes scored a perfect 10 in the third round to highlight the opening day of the IBA Pipeline Pro yesterday.
The first four rounds of the men's division were completed in 6- to 8-foot waves at the Banzai Pipeline.
Abrantes advanced through three rounds yesterday, and received a perfect 10 for a double-barrel ride.
Australia's Ross McBride had the best heat of the day, receiving scores of 9.17 and 8.5 for a two-wave total of 17.67.
Peter Yoon of East O'ahu had a solid first-round heat, but was eliminated in the second round. It was his first time in the prestigious Pipeline Pro.
Vaj Lederer of the Big Island advanced through three heats, but lost in the fourth round when he showed up late for his heat and could not catch as many waves as his competitors.
The top seeds in the contest received byes yesterday, including 2007 world champ Ben Player of Australia. The top Hawai'i seeds are Mike Stewart, David Hubbard and Jeff Hubbard.
The contest is the first stop on the International Bodyboarding Association 2008 world tour.
The women's division is expected to run today. For updated information, visit www.ibatour.com.
GOLF
BURNS TOURNEY TEES OFF
Six teams ranked in the top 50 on the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index will play in the 32nd annual John A. Burns Intercollegiate, today, tomorrow and Friday at Leilehua Golf Course. There will be an 8 a.m. shotgun start each day.
Auburn, No. 15 in the index, is the top-ranked team in the 22-team field. Also competing are UNLV (24), Arkansas (37), Texas A&M (42), San Diego State (45), Southern Methodist (50), University of Hawai'i-Manoa, UH-Hilo and Nagoya of Japan.
Brigham Young is defending its title. The Cougars closed with an 18-under-par 270 last year to beat UNLV by eight shots. SMU's Frank Wrenn was the medalist with rounds of 67-67-69 for a total of 13-under 203. BYU's Jake Ellison was a shot back.
