Yim, Al-Agba Advance to Hardcourt Final

Former Glendale High standout Robert Yim won three break points against his serve at 4-4 in the first set and then won seven consecutive games to beat fifth-seeded Chris Kwon of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-4, 6-0, in a boys’ 18 division semifinal Saturday in the U.S. Tennis Assn. Super National Hardcourt Championships at Kalamazoo, Mich.

Yim, who will attend UCLA on a tennis scholarship in the fall, will face Tarzana resident Jamil Al-Agba in today’s final.

Al-Agba defeated Kean Feeder of Portland, Ore., 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-5. Al-Agba trailed, 2-0, in the third set before rallying to win on his third match point.

Third-seeded Gary Sacks, a junior at Calabasas High who won the Southern Section singles title as a sophomore last spring, defeated fifth-seeded Timothy Smyczek of Hales Corners, Wis., 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to advance to today’s boys’ 16 final.

Sacks, who broke Smyczek’s serve for a 4-3 lead in the third set, will play fourth-seeded Matt Bruch of Lake Forest, Ill. Bruch topped Marcus Fugate of Fairport, N.Y., 6-2, 6-1.

The seventh-seeded team of J.Y. Aubone of Miami, Fla., and Jesse Levine of Boca Raton, Fla., beat Santa Maria Righetti High sophomore Stefan Hardy and Shan Sondhu of Laguna Niguel, 6-1, 6-2, in the boys’ 16 doubles final.

-- Lauren Peterson

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The Vineyard Little League of Rancho Cucamonga lost to Chandler, Ariz., 3-0, Friday night but still qualified for the Western Regional semifinals today at Haughton Stadium in San Bernardino.

Southern California’s representative finished pool play with a 2-2 record and will face Henderson, Nev. Green Valley (2-2) today at 5 p.m. Henderson defeated Vineyard, 5-2, in pool play.

In tonight’s other semifinal at 8, Chandler (4-0) will play Laramie, Wyo. (1-3).

The regional final, which will be televised by ESPN2, is 7 p.m. Tuesday. The winner qualifies for the Little League World Series, Aug. 15-24, in Williamsport, Pa.

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Golfer Ryann O’Toole of San Clemente held the lead for the first two rounds of the American Junior Golf Assn.’s Transamerica Junior at Denver, but she shot a 13-over-par 83 on the final round Friday and finished fifth, six strokes behind, in the girls’ division.

Staci Smoot of Rochester, Minn., won with a three-day total of 233 at the Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen, Colo. Riverside’s Sommer Scholl was sixth at 240.

In the boys’ division, Garrett Merrell of Dallas shot a one-over 71 on his final round and finished at 218 for the victory. Colin Wilcox (75) of Camarillo tied for third at 220 and Rory Hie (74) of Cerritos tied for eighth at 225.