Heat, cramps send top-seeded Lim to hospital
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Defending champion Robbie Lim, the No. 1 boys' seed, was hospitalized because of cramps and heat exhaustion yesterday afternoon after the quarterfinals of the Carlsmith Ball State Tennis Championships.
The Punahou junior, who advanced to today's semifinals, was driven to Kapi'olani Medical Center Emergency Room from the steaming courts at Central O'ahu Regional Park. He was being prepared late yesterday afternoon for an intravenous of normal saline to restore body fluids he lost at Waipi'o's windless tennis complex.
Lim said Punahou trainer Glenn Beachy and his family physician would decide whether he could play today.
"I had severe cramps and heat exhaustion, and I was on the verge of heat stroke," Lim said in the ER. "The stadium court is real low, and the sun reflects off the hard top. It felt like 110 degrees down there."
Beachy said he recommended that Lim and his opponent, Iolani's Jonathan Lo, consult their physicians about getting IVs.
"That court is sunken 8 to 10 feet below ground level, and there is very little ventilation across. It must have been 15 degrees hotter than in the seating area up above," Beachy said. "It was like playing in a bowl and getting cooked."
Tournament director Agenhart Ellis said, "That was the only match in two days where there were problems, and that was a hard match."
Ellis said that if it is hot again today, tournament officials may put doubles matches at the stadium court instead of singles, or not use it at all.
With or without Lim today, Punahou has clinched its 35th straight state boys' championship — setting a national record.
Lim said he had a tough morning match in the round of 16, in which he defeated 11th-seeded Andy Narido Jr. of Hilo, 6-3, 6-2. "He was playing really good," Lim said.
In the even-hotter afternoon quarterfinal, Lim fell behind the eighth-seeded Lo 5-0 in the first set. "I wasn't prepared to play," Lim said. Though Lim fought back to 5-4, Lo held serve on the last game and won 6-4. Then Lim took control and won the next two sets, 6-0, 6-2.
But by the beginning of the third set, Lim said, he was beginning to cramp. "I was purely gutting it out, that was all I could do," Lim said. "My legs were locking up, and I just tried to keep the ball in play," he said.
There is no official temperature gauge at the Waipi'o complex but Roy Matsuda, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in Honolulu, estimated the temperature in the area was in the low to mid-80s — "82 or so."
While No. 1 seed Lim struggled to victory, two of the first four-seeded boys players were defeated in the quarterfinals. Second-seeded Derrick Lajola of Iolani was beaten by No. 6 Mark Ilagan of Farrington, 6-3, 6-2, and No. 4 Jonathan Farm of Punahou lost to No. 9 Ed Kane of Kaua'i, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
The results set up semifinals at 8:30 this morning of Lim against O'ahu public-school champion Dillon Porter of Kahuku, and Kane against Illagan. If Lim cannot play, Porter moves into today's championship match by default.
Girls singles went according to seeds yesterday, with No. 1 Michelle Pautler of Hawai'i Prep, last year's runner-up; No. 2 Chloe Bihag of Waipahu, two-time OIA champion and third-place finisher last year; No. 3 Kalei Gora, the freshman phenom from St. Francis, and No. 4 Heidi Kaloi of Kamehameha all moving into the semifinals.
The semifinal winners will meet for the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association's 46th annual championships, and the losers will play for third places in eight concurrent matches at 10:30 a.m.
Punahou's girls have clinched a tie for their 29th state title, but first since 1991.
