Locals fight to stay alive
GLENDALE — Four local teens were in action during the final weekend of play in the 105th Annual Southern California Junior Sectional Championship.
Glendale’s Sahak Bazrganian, Alexios Halebian, Alex Sarkissian and La Crescenta’s Jessica Harrow played in matches on Saturday and Sunday in Fountain Valley in what is the largest junior tennis tournament in the United States.
Three of the four won at least two matches, with Bazrganian enjoying the greatest success.
As the second seed in the Boys’ 14 Division, Bazrganian has advanced to today’s championship match against top-seeded Spencer Simon of Santa Barbara at 3 p.m.
Bazrganian defeated seventh-seeded Jonathan Huang of Santa Ana, 6-3, 7-5, in the semifinals on Sunday.
He had previously beat Del Mar’s Warren Wood, 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 in the quarterfinals and Johnny Wang of San Marino, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, the round prior.
Also in the Boys’ 14 Division, the fifth-seeded Halebian advanced to the quarterfinals of the main draw bracket. His run came to an end with a loss on Sunday to third-seeded Reo Asami of Irvine, 6-2, 6-3.
Previously, Halebian had defeated Jack Sanford of Thousand Oaks, 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round before beating Irvine’s Mikey Zablan, 6-2, 6-3, in the round of 16.
Harrow was the lone remaining area female in the tournament as she competed in the Girls’ 16 Division and advanced to the round of 16 in the main draw before making it to the semifinals in the consolation bracket.
Running into the tournament’s fifth-seeded player in Gabrielle Desimone of Rancho Santa Fe in the second round of main draw action, Harrow gave her opponent all she could handle on Saturday.
After losing, 6-4, in the opening set, Harrow bounced back to even up the match with a 6-2 win in the second set, setting up a match-deciding third set. The score in the final set was close as it could be with Harrow coming up on the short end of a 7-6 loss, ending her run in the main draw.
The loss sent Harrow to the consolation bracket, where she recorded a, 6-2, 6-1, win against Alexa Lee of Bermuda Hills in her first match. She followed that up on Sunday with a, 6-4, 7-5, victory over fourth-seeded Marivick Valdeavilla of Los Angeles, which set up a semifinals match against Hailey Hogan of Newport Beach.
In the Boys’ 16 Division, Glendale’s Alex Sarkissian had a rather tough time in his two matches, coming out on the losing side of both.
In his opening match in the main draw on Saturday against Tyler Bowman of Rolling Hills Estates, Sarkissian won the opening set, 6-1, but couldn’t close out the match as he dropped the two ensuing sets, 6-2, 6-0.
Then, in his opening match in the consolation bracket, Sarkissian was forced to withdraw because of an injury in the early stages as he faced Alex Sohaili of Los Angeles.