Boys’ tennis: Taft’s Tchan rolling along at City Individuals

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Josh Tchan is making the Balboa Sports Center in Encino his own personal playground.

So far in the City Section’s individual tournament, the junior from Taft is toying with opponents as if he has early dinner plans. Or perhaps Tchan, who is also a stellar student, is merely trying to buy himself more study time. Whatever the reason, he’s on one heck of a roll.

On Tuesday, Tchan, seeded No. 1 in the 64-player singles draw, beat Richard Catabona of Van Nuys, 6-0, 6-1, to advance to the quarterfinals, where he will face sixth-seeded Ace Matias of Narbonne. Matias beat Palisades’ Oliver Thornton, 6-0, 6-2.

Tchan isn’t Taft’s only representative in the final eight. The Toreadors’ No. 2 player, David Engelberg, upset Carson’s Rommel Orpiano, the No. 7 seed and last year’s runner-up.

Sophomore Jimmy Wellman, the hero of Taft’s 15-14 1/2 victory over Palisades in the team finals on May 9, lost to third-seeded Dennis Mkrtchian of Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies. Defending City champion J.R. Sarmiento, the No. 2 seed, also moved on with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Kurt Zweifel of Venice.

-- Steve Galluzzo