CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Mari Chun and Raymond Tendo walked off No. 9 after Tendo won in the Manoa Cup first round.

Shoji survives
first day

Though better known as an all-state volleyball player and a key contributor to Iolani's state champion basketball team, Kawika Shoji has long been a familiar figure to golfers at Oahu Country Club.

Shoji started playing golf at age 5, tagging along with his famous father, Hawaii volleyball coach Dave Shoji, around the OCC course.

After watching some of Hawaii's top amateur golfers compete in the Manoa Cup over the years, the younger Shoji decided to give it a try and now finds himself in the third round after grinding out two wins yesterday in his first appearance in the state match-play championship.

"It's great, it's such a surprise I made it two rounds," he said. "This is my only tournament of the summer and I went into it thinking I have nothing to lose and just to have some fun."

The incoming senior at Iolani faces Doug Williams, who beat Michelle Wie here 3 and 2 four years ago, this morning after defeating Marc Rosen 6 and 5 and Alan Wong 1-up in his first- and second-round matches yesterday.

He survived his second match despite a rough stretch on the back nine when a three-hole lead disappeared. With the match all-square going into the 18th, he put his drive short of the green, chipped to within 3 feet of the hole, and drained the putt. Wong's 10-footer slid by the hole to end the match.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Defending Manoa Cup champion Ryan Perez teed off at No. 10 during the first round. Perez won two matches yesterday.

"It's going to be beneficial for every sport I play, whether it's volleyball, basketball or golf," Shoji said. "In any sport and in life you're going to have challenges, you're going to have mental challenges that you've just got to fight through."

Shoji joins three previous Manoa Cup champions in the third round.

Defending champion Ryan Perez moved on with wins over Duane Pacheco (4 and 3) and Garret Hayashi (4 and 2). Perez will play Reyn Tanaka, who knocked off four-time champion Brandan Kop 2 and 1 in the second round.

Travis Toyama, the 2002 champion, faces Christian Akau after defeating Eric Molina 4 and 3, and Chan Kim 1-up.

Dick Sieradzki, the 1990 winner, plays Kurt Nino after beating Jeff Weinstein 3 and 2, and Loi Chang-Stroman 5 and 4.

Second-seeded T.J. Kua, who posted the low total in Monday's qualifying round, also won both of his matches to advance to a meeting with Sean Doi.

Hiking 36 holes in a day wasn't enough for Shannon Sibayan, who went to extra holes in both of his matches. It took him 20 holes to defeat Wesley Chong in the first round, and 22 more to beat Kevin Shimomura in a match decided as the sun was setting.

Mari Chun, the second female to qualify for the tournament, was eliminated by Raymond Tendo 1-up in yesterday's morning round.

Today's winners advance to tomorrow's quarterfinals, with the 36-hole semifinal and championship matches set for Friday and Saturday.

In his second-round match against Wong, Shoji fell behind early when he couldn't get out of a sand trap on the second hole. He tied the match with a birdie on No. 6 and surged ahead by winning the next three holes as well.

The lead started to slip when an inadvertent equipment infraction cost him a hole. The momentum swung toward Wong and he eventually knotted the match before Shoji pulled it out on the final hole.

"It's like a part of you having him out there. I was just so proud of him the way he played today," said Dave Shoji. "That's the way golf is, it can turn in a matter of minutes. It was a great learning experience."