Edison a better team than record indicates
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

SCOTT PILLING staff Woodbridge's Kevin Gabel returns a shot during his consolation match during the GMCChampionships at Thomas Edison Park in Edison on Saturday.

EDISON - The Edison High School boys tennis team saw two of its own reach the semifinals of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament last week as the No. 2 doubles team of Addy Shenoy and Karan Nijhawan upset the No. 4 seed from Monroe in the quarterfinals.

While Shenoy and Nijhawan's run ended in the semis, the tandem topped the doubles team from JFK, 6-3, 7-5, in the consolation match to take third place.

"Addy and Karan were very impressive," Edison head coach Wesley Smith said. "They were down 1-5 in the second set and actually fought off two set points to rally and take the match."

Shenoy and Nijhawan entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed and far exceeded any expectations. Unfortunately, the rest of the Edison team has not fared so well during the early part of the season as the team enters this week's action at 2-7. Both match wins have come against Old Bridge.

"Our start has been a little disappointing," Smith said. "We'd like to be getting more wins, but that hasn't happened. Unfortunately, we have a poor record in three-set matches. As a team, we're 6-13 in three-set matches."

Despite the tough luck in three-setters the team remains poised and appears ready to make a run at area teams in the second half of the season.

Last week's win over Old Bridge saw the Eagles pull out a 3-2 win. No. 1 singles player Alex Li and No. 2 singles player Jeet Thaker lost in straight sets to Old Bridge's Aakash Shah and Joe Iacona, respectively.

"I was very pleased to see Jeet avenge this loss just a couple of days later in the GMC Tournament," Smith said. "Jeet was hitting the ball well in the loss, so after some minor adjustments he was able to come right back with a win over Iacona."

Sophomore Varun Trivedi picked up a win at No. 3 singles with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Old Bridge's Pat Liu.

"Varun has been doing a nice job filling in at different spots when we need him in the lineup," Smith said. "He's young and we expect great things from him in the future."

Devesh Patel and Gunatit Patel topped Justin Kahn and Rob Gatdula of Old Bridge at No. 1 doubles, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Shenoy and Nijhawan defeated Herman Singh and Nechar Raval at No. 2 doubles in straight sets.

"The guys we have at No. 2 doubles are pure athletes," Smith said. "They do what they can and play extremely well together."

The Eagles have a busy week with today's 3:45 p.m. match-up with St. Joseph's a highlight. In the first meeting between the two teams St. Joe's took the match 3-2.

"That loss was a heart-breaker," Smith said. "All three of our singles players lost in three sets. We've been looking forward to seeing St. Joe's again."

The team will close the week with a 3:45 p.m. match May 3 at J.P. Stevens followed by a match in Piscataway May 4.

Notes... While none of the local teams were in the running for the GMC Championship, there were several players/tandems that fared well individually.

J.P. Stevens' second singles duo of Phil Mayer and Stephen Chang, who were seeded third, reached the finals on Saturday, only to fall to the top seeds, Mike Wu and Sahil Sheth from East Brunswick, 6-3, 6-0.

The Bears also won at third singles (Neil Mirchandani), and second doubles (Aaron Sachs and Ken Shyu) en route to cruising to the team title with 16 points.

Woodbridge's Kevin Gabel reached the consolation match at first singles, where he fell to Sayreville's Andre Musyoka, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6). St. Joseph's Hani Mayassi won his consolation match at second singles by default, while Stevens' Howard Telson took fourth at third singles with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over J.F. Kennedy's Trevor Jaye.

JFK's Hardik Shah and Shashank Gupta also reached the consolation round, losing their second doubles match to Edison's Shenoy and Nijhawan, 6-3, 7-5.