[ TENNIS ]

STAR-BULLETIN / 2000 Brad Lum-Tucker and partner Ikaika Jobe started off as rivals before joining the local doubles circuit.

Double Trouble

Jobe and Lum-Tucker are
making a racket in Kailua

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By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com

A lot of skill. And a little bit of luck.

Sometimes that's what it takes to win.

The unseeded duo of Ikaika Jobe and Brad Lum-Tucker have had both as they've made their run through the 35th Kailua Racquet Club Men's Night Doubles Tennis Tournament the past few weeks. The "young guns" of the event have had the booming serve of the 19-year-old Jobe and the good-luck charm of a T-shirt worn by the 20-year-old Lum-Tucker.

It worked again Thursday night as the pair upset the fourth-seeded team of Andrew Csordas and Chris Leong 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) in the first semifinal. Jobe and Lum-Tucker will try to become the first unseeded team in the event's history to claim the title when they take on No. 3 Brendon Curry-Erik Vervloet in tonight's 6 p.m. final at Kailua Racquet Club.

Going into the quarterfinal, former Punahou player Jobe and Lum-Tucker, a Kauai High School product, had a successful -- albeit short -- streak going in doubles. They had won two straight tournaments together, their first in an intercollegiate tournament a year ago and then in the Hawaii Sectional open men's championship at Diamond Head Tennis Center last June. The two also met in the singles final, with Jobe prevailing in a tough match.

STAR-BULLETIN / 2001 Ikaika Jobe, who participated in a state championship with Punahou, is part of a doubles team that has raised eyebrows.

Although they haven't practiced much as a team, their knowledge of -- and respect for -- each other goes back over a decade when both played in 10-and-under tournaments.

"I remember the first time we saw Brad very well," said Jobe's father, Virgil. "Ikaika had been ruling the 10-and-under tournaments, then this kid from Kauai shows up.

"They're childhood buddies and have admired and respected each other for years. They know each other's game so well. And they're getting better every match together."

There was no argument from the top-seeded team of Ryan Ideta and Erik Sandblom in Wednesday's quarterfinals. Ideta, going for a record seventh title, and Sandblom were teaming together for the first time and "we hadn't practiced a lot together," said Ideta, the tennis coach at Hawaii-Hilo. "It helps if you know your partner better. But they served a very solid match and serve always has a lot to do with how you do in doubles."

With the ouster of Ideta, 27, and Sandblom, 26, the tournament will have completely new names on the first-place trophy for the first time since 1997. Ideta had been part of the winning team from 1994 to '96 and 1998-2000, while Sandblom, a former player at Hawaii Pacific, won last year's event with Daouda Ndiaye.

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Top-seeded doubles team Ryan Ideta and Erik Sandblom fell to unseeded Ikaika Jobe and Brad Lum-Tucker at the Kailua Racquet Club Men's Night Doubles Tennis Tournament on Wednesday. The loss ensures that there will be two new winners for the first time in five years.

Not being seeded took pressure off their team, Jobe said. But they used their three qualifying matches as practice.

"I'm a little surprised that we've done as well as we have," said Jobe, "but Brad and I both have really good serves. Not being seeded gave us a chance to get in more practice together."

Csordas said he wasn't surprised by the unseeded team's success.

"They're young but they play well together," said Csordas, a former UC Davis player. "This is a tough tournament with a lot of good players. These guys aren't even seeded but they beat the top seeds. What it shows is you pretty much have to be ready for everyone."

Thursday night, Lum-Tucker was ready. He wore the same shirt as he had on Wednesday, an autographed jersey of former University of Hawaii volleyball player Kahinu Lee.

"It's my good-luck shirt," said Lum-Tucker, an incoming junior at the University of Idaho. "I washed it to get it ready for the next match."

"There wasn't much pressure on us," said Jobe, who will be a sophomore at St. Louis University. "We move on past the mistakes and stay positive with each other."