Holmdel Dominates First Annual Holmdel Tennis Classic

Spectators at the first annual Holmdel Tennis Classic Wednesday were treated to seven hours of exciting high level boy’s tennis. Four teams, all with winning records -- Holmdel Hornets, Toms River East Raiders, Moorestown Quakers and South Brunswick Vikings -- competed until just one remained.

The boys played a total of 24 matches on the Holmdel High School tennis courts on April 20. Some undefeated records withstood real challenges, but others fell. Win or lose, all the boys on all the teams really put forth their best efforts.

In the first round, Holmdel dealt an undefeated Toms River East team their first loss of the season by sweeping all six matches and winning 5-0. In the bottom half of the draw, undefeated South Brunswick won 4-1 over Moorestown. That set up a consolation round between Toms River East and Moorestown which Moorestown won 5-0, and a final showdown between winners Holmdel led by Coach Chuck Chelednik, and South Brunswick led by Coach Nancy McDonald.

Both coaches expected a close final. Coach McDonald said “This will be a good test for the boys.” South Brunswick has been best in Middlesex County the past years and added two strong players to this year’s team, Freshman Dylan Karchere-Sun at first singles, and Alberto Tenias-Nieli at second doubles.

Holmdel Coach Chuck Chelednik was concerned with the level of competition in the final too. “This will be a tough match,” he said. So as they prepared to do battle the sides were set: Holmdel in blue and white, and South Brunswick in black and gold. True to both coach’s anticipation, the outcome of the final matches of the Holmdel Tennis Classic was a nail-biter. 

At first singles, Holmdel’s Derek Liu’s powerful shots and pinpoint accuracy were too much for Karchere-Sun. Liu won 6-3, 6-2, giving his team 1 point toward the final score. At second singles, Holmdel’s Charlie Seifer struggled against South Brunswick’s Nihkil Roy, losing 1-6, 4-6. South Brunswick also took third singles, with Rohan Bhatia winning over Daway Chou-Ren, 6-3, 6-2. Results of the 3 singles matches gave South Brunswick a 2-1 lead, but singles alone does not determine the winner. 

Holmdel’s first doubles and second doubles both managed to retain their undefeated season records. At first doubles Neeve Nikoo and David Lyu won over South Brunswick’s Alberto Tenias-Nieli and Jag Buddhavarapu, 6-4, 6-1. At second doubles, Mike Li and Ganesh Natarajan survived a first set tiebreaker and went on to win 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 over South Brunswick’s Dan Shapiro and Arun Chockalingam. And at third doubles, Holmdel’s Jacob Yang and freshman Sam Joynson bested Kooshul Jhaveri and Vivek Subramani, 6-2, 6-1. The two wins in doubles gave Holmdel a 3-2 final victory and their first Tournament Championship win of the 2011 season.

Now sitting with a comfortable 12-1 season record, how many more tournaments can Holmdel win? 

Captions:
1. Neeve Nikoo preparing to do battle.

2.  South Brunswick team huddle.

3.  Team introductions: Derek Liu and Dylan Karchere-Sun with Coach Chelednik.

4.  Spencer, who weighs more than some players, came to watch Bryce Cody from Moorestown.

5.  Low five between partners Li and Natarajan.

6.  Handshakes after winning championship point.

7.  Smiling faces!

8. Derek Liu’s follow through.

9. Trophies.

10. Joynson calls it a day.