Uni High boys' tennis duo into state quarterfinals
May 24—The path to a state championship is still there for Swapnil Kumar and Mason Maio.
Three wins away, in fact, for the Uni High boys' tennis doubles team.
Kumar and Maio had a standout first day of the IHSA state tournament on Thursday in the Chicago suburbs, winning all three of their matches and advancing into Friday's quarterfinals.
Kumar, a junior, and Maio, a senior, opened their state tournament stay with a 6-0, 6-0 win against Liam Hanson and Devon Oliveria from Woodstock before outlasting Eli Rosborough and Aiden Elder of Robinson via 6-1, 3-6 (10-4) win.
Kumar and Maio then rallied in the third round, defeating Laksh Mehta and Char Park of the Illinois Math and Science Academy 2-6, 6-1 (10-8) to secure a spot in the state quarterfinals.
The Uni High duo is set to face Joe Cass and Ethan Stewart from Triad on Friday in the quarterfinals at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights.
Kumar and Maio are the only area players who did not fall into the consolation bracket on Thursday. Uni High senior Aryan Sachdev compiled a 3-1 record and advanced to Friday's fourth-round consolation bracket. He opened with a 5-7, 6-3 (10-5) first-round win against Marc Cheng of Woodstock in the first round before Sean Lenhart of Wauconda beat him 6-0, 6-3 in the second round.
But Sachdev is still playing after beating Connor Barth of Morris 6-2, 6-4 in a second-round consolation match and then defeating Gustavo Kieling of Centralia 6-3, 6-1 in a third-round consolation match. The other Uni High state qualifier, senior Taehan Lee, lost both of his singles matches.
Centennial's doubles team of Jason Kim and Tyler Luchinski won their first two matches before falling in the third round. Kim, a senior, and Luchinski, a junior, beat Jonathan Locascio and Joe Culotta of Sycamore 6-1, 6-3 in the first round and then topped Lucas Adams Agresti and Jude Losasso of Beacon Academy 6-4, 6-2 in the second round. But Krish Khanna and Arjun Sawhney of Chicago University won their third-round match 6-2, 6-3 to send Kim and Luchinski into the fourth-round consolation bracket.
St. Thomas More sophomore Hunter Madigan went 2-2 in singles play, and the Mahomet-Seymour doubles team of Jacob Atteberry and Caleb Bushue also went 2-2.
In the 2A state tournament, Champaign Central senior Ezra Bernhard won his first two singles matches before stumbling in the third round on Thursday. Bernhard beat Arain Lagarija of Wheaton Warrenville South 7-5, 6-3 in the first round and then defeated Thomas Stoiber of Lincoln-Way East 6-1, 6-0 in the second round, but Hinsdale Central's Nathan Hernandez beat Bernhard 6-1, 6-4 in the third round. Bernhard will now await Colton Hulme of Edwardsville in the fourth-round consolation bracket.
Bernhard's teammate, Abel Vines, went 1-2 in singles play on Thursday. He won his first-round match via a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Nathan Cruz of Rock Island before two straight losses.
