Top juniors to open O'ahu tennis facility
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Just when tennis players had all but forgotten their 20-court complex was coming, the Central O'ahu Regional Park Tennis Center will open tomorrow.
Ron Slauson • City and County of Honolulu
Don't bother bringing your racket until Thursday, though, unless you are entered in the U.S. Tennis Association National Open 18 Championships. That major junior tournament will usher in what most believe can be a new era for O'ahu tennis. Courts will open for public play Thursday, nearly 10 months behind schedule.
The Central O'ahu Regional Park Tennis Center, with 20 courts — 10 with lights — will open to the public Thursday.
Bernard Gusman, Punahou's director of tennis and the tournament director for the nationals, calls CORP "our Flushing Meadows."
"Quite honestly, the complex is better than I expected," Gusman said. "I've told a lot of people that next to the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, this is the best facility I've seen."
For the next five days, it will be home to more than 100 of the country's most ambitious young players, nearly half from Hawai'i.
For Hawai'i juniors, the buzz hits home. Punahou junior Jessica Broadfoot won a national 16's doubles title in November in California with classmate Adriann Gin. She has played enough on the Mainland that she is not intimidated and she likes the travel, but given the choice ...
"I think this will be fun, because we don't (normally) have these big events in Hawai'i," Broadfoot said.
• WHAT: Tennis tournament for girls and boys 18 and under • WHEN: Tomorrow-Wednesday, from 8:30 a.m. this weekend and 9 a.m. the final three days. Finals begin at noon Wednesday. • WHO: 58 boys and 50 girls from 21 states and Canada. Six players are ranked in the top 100 nationally. Wahiawa's Kimberly and Heidi Kaloi are seeded. • WHERE: Central O'ahu Regional Park • ADMISSION: Free • GRAND OPENING: Official blessing and dedication of the new facility will be tomorrow at noon. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday there will be exhibitions and games.
The top three seeds in the girls draw are Ann Yelsey and Lindsey Nelson of California, with national rankings of 27 and 33, respectively, and Tarakaa Bertrand (66) from Virginia.
USTA National Open Championships
Christopher Rasmussen is the top seed for the boys, with a ranking of 49. Treat Huey (61) is second and Michael Ricks (84) third. Rasmussen and Ricks are from California. Huey, from Virginia, partnered with Farrington graduate Anthony Ilagan to win the doubles last year, when the 16 and 18 nationals were at Kapalua, Maui.
Along with Ilagan, Hawai'i's Michael Wojnarowicz (18 singles), Robbie Lim (16 singles) and Kim Kaloi and Mariana Lee (18 doubles) won titles last year.
Lim went on to beat Ilagan for the state high school championship. Lee won the girls title, and Kaloi took the doubles with sister Heidi.
Lim and the two Kalois are playing in this event. Lim is seeded sixth, with a national ranking of 240. Kim is the 10th-seeded girl, at 304 nationally, and Heidi is 13th, at 377. Kim has committed to attend Santa Clara in the fall. Her college coach asked her to play in this to keep her game sharp.
To qualify for nationals, those players that have participated in national events are taken directly from the USTA rankings. The field is filled from an alternate list and other age-group rankings. The O'ahu site is big enough that Gusman doubled the size of the draws from last year's 32.
"One of the things that pleased me was that all the Hawai'i kids who entered got in," Gusman said. "In the years to come, I don't know if that will happen. One of my hopes is to build this event into a quality junior event so people know about it and are asking people if they're going to Hawai'i to play in the big tournament."
The impetus for bringing this tournament here, however, has always been to help Hawai'i juniors.
"I think it's great for the kids of Hawai'i," Gusman said. "You see so many of our kids who have to spend thousands of dollars to travel for a national ranking, which is often the basis for scholarships. To have a national event right in our backyard, where all our kids have an opportunity to play against national competition is what it's all about."
SHORT LOBS: The CORP courts will open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis Thursday. The complex will be open 7 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. daily. Half the 20 courts are lit. ... Leagues and groups should apply for a permit to use the courts. First priority goes to parks and recreation programs, followed by school groups and leagues. Permits can be requested by fax at 676-3902, or email bcarew@co.honolulu.hi.us.
