Kealakehe senior Sayo Tsukamoto captured the girls singles title Saturday at the Carlsmith Ball/HHSAA Tennis Championships in Kailua, Kona.

The top seed defeated Kaua'i High's Sarah Kukino, 6-3, 6-2, in the final to become the first girls champion from the Big Island.

Tsukamoto had reached the semifinals the previous two years before falling to eventual champion Kristin Lim.

"I always looked up to whoever won the state championship, thinking they worked harder and was more prepared than I am," Tsukamoto said in an email. "Now that I became a state champion, I worked really hard and it has paid off, of all the years I have trained."

The Advertiser misspelled Tsukamoto's name and published a wrong picture of her in Sunday's paper.