Women’s Night Doubles Expanding To 22 Quality Teams
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usThe backdrop at Kailua Racquet Club ensures that the Women’s Nights Doubles Tournament is an event in itself as well as a competition.
But even in a year when the field has expanded to a record 22 teams, the emphasis still remains firmly on quality when it comes to the players.
“We’re fortunate to have a lot of really great college teams here in Hawaii,” said Bruce Nagel, club manager and tournament director. “BYUH is one of the top programs in the country, and HPU is right there with them.
UH has turned the corner, and Chaminade has had some good teams (lately).”
The tournament had been an invite-only affair since its inception in 1999, but its popularity led Nagel to add a qualifying tournament for its first two days.
“The number of people entered really surprised me, so I changed the format to accommodate people who entered,” he explained.
“Go to any tennis club in the United States with a women’s tournament, and you won’t find more than eight teams competing. This is going to be a first. I decided we’ll just make it an open and add two more days.”
The eight teams left standing through the qualifying round advance to a main draw where they’ll join eight seeded teams in bracketed play.
Besides its wide popularity, Women’s Night Doubles has donated more than $50,000 to the breast cancer fight. (Last year it raised $8,000 for Susan G. Komen For the Cure foundation.)
Most proceeds are raised from auctions held during a dinner to kick off the event.
Nagel has assembled another all-star cast, starting with the top-seeded Elwen Li and Yuan Jia. Currently BYUHawaii’s No. 1 doubles team, the pair (both born and raised in China) finished second at the USTA/ITA Small College National Tournament last spring. Li also advanced to the women’s USTA/ITA Small College National Tournament singles final before losing to Alida MullerWehlau of Armstrong Atlantic State.
“They’re two of the very best college players in the nation - they’re consistent, and they’re powerful,” Nagel said.
Also playing is BYUH’s No. 2 doubles team of I-HsuanHwang and Salina Aranda. They’re seeded third behind UH’s current No. 1 doubles team of Barbara Pinterova and Katarina Poljakova.
Hawaii Pacific University also is well-represented with its No. 1 doubles team of Zora Vlckova and Celina Goetti, who are seeded fourth.
The fifth seed is UH’s No. 2 team of Melinda Wong and Sophie Kobuch, whom Nagel calls “maybe the best doubles player in the tournament.”
Leilani Magee, currently the state’s top-ranked singles player in women’s tennis, is also part of the field along with partner Aglae Van-den Burgh.
Qualifying matches were to be played Monday and Tuesday, with the Main Draw set to take place today (Nov. 17), Thursday and Friday. Matches are at 6 and 7:15 p.m.
Like the Men’s Nights Doubles Tournament, the women’s tourney is regarded as fan-friendly with seating right on top of the action. The players are well-taken care of and receive “player’s packets” of several items.
“We don’t have as many tournaments in Hawaii anymore,” Nagel added. “The leagues have taken over for that, so this is pretty neat to have 22 teams.”
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