Simonyan, Ohanyan lead way for Hoover in tennis prelims
PASADENA — It’s right back to the semifinals of the Pacific League boys’ tennis tournament for Emile Ohanyan.
Drenched in sweat while playing through the escalating temperatures Monday, the Hoover High standout faced a stiff test during the second of two tournament rounds at Pasadena High.
PHOTOS: Pacific League boys’ tennis
The fourth-seeded Ohanyan survived, posting a 6-4, 2-6 (10-2) second-round win against fifth-seeded Arin Meserkhani of Glendale.
“The second round was really tough,” said Ohanyan, who opened with a 6-0, 6-0 first-round victory against Young Peak of Crescenta Valley and will make his second straight appearance in the semifinals. “I started off [the super tiebreaker] good and I knew I had to stay relaxed.
“Staying relaxed helped me out a lot. If you play tight, then it’s hard. Going into [the semifinals], I know I have to play my game.”
The semifinals for singles and doubles will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the same location, followed by the finals.
Ohanyan will meet top-seeded Sawyer Patterson of Burroughs in a semifinal match. The other semifinal draw will feature second-seeded Oleg Simonyan of Hoover against third-seeded Kevin Orellana of Burroughs.
The doubles semifinal matchups will consist of top-seeded Kevin Hoang and Wen Yao Lin of Burroughs versus fourth-seeded Michael Whelan and Calvin Fox of Burroughs and second-seeded Dustin Lieu and Eric Gao of Arcadia against third-seeded Keon Park and Clayton Pauff of Burbank.
Simonyan, who reached the finals of the league tournament in 2011, began with a 6-1, 6-0 win against 15th-seeded Davis Crater of Burroughs. He then registered a 6-4, 6-3 second-round victory against seventh-seeded Nawaf Tokatly, who started of with a 6-0, 6-2 first-round win against 10th-seeded Eduardo Llano of Burroughs.
Also picking up first-round singles wins were Meserkhani and Crescenta Valley’s Arem Abrahamian. Meserkhani began with a 6-3, 6-2 win against 12th-seeded Chris Ghadimi of Hoover. Abrahamian opened with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against eighth-seeded Dhruv Rastogi of Arcadia before suffering a 6-0, 6-0 defeat against Patterson.
Glendale Coach Bob Davidson said Meserkhani picked up some invaluable experience Monday.
“He was very competitive, and he’s still learning,” Davidson said. “He batted back against Emile, but had a couple of errors in the tiebreaker.
“Both of our singles guys played well. Give Emile and Oleg credit, too.”
A pair of local doubles teams recorded first-round wins.
Seventh-seeded Arthur Arutyunyan and Daniel Kim of Hoover notched a 6-2, 4-6 (10-3) victory against 10th-seeded Jason Chang and Allen Chang of Crescenta Valley. Ninth-seeded Robert Lee and James of Ho of Crescenta Valley picked up a 6-4, 6-2 win against eighth-seeded Sam Sarian and Michael Akopyan of Glendale.
Arutyunyan and Kim then suffered a 6-1, 6-1 second-round loss to Lieu and Gao. Lee and Ho fell, 6-1, 6-1, to Hoang and Yao Lin.
“I liked the way Robert and James competed,” Crescenta Valley Coach Sam Hyun said. “They are playing a lot better.”
