2/12/10 - No Rain Allows Royals To Open Season… Finally

By Stephanie Coats

Pasadena, CA- The week long rain delay and some good match play was not enough to help Hope International defeat Caltech on Friday evening. HIU would fall 8-1 though, Freshman Jerry Laureano, among others, would have a strong showing.

Freshman Gregory Cobain and doubles partner Laureano took on Karthik Narsimhan and Wesley Yu. The match was close one, but the Royals refused to give in and would snag the team’s only win for the day, 8-5.

In other doubles news, Freshmen Justin Sutherlin and Christian Booher battled hard against Anish Agarwal and John Chen. Fighting to the end, Sutherlin and Booher almost clinched the match but were edged out 8-6.

On the singles courts, Laureano once again proved to be a contender. Forcing the first set to a tiebreaker, he nearly beat Narsimhan. However, his opponent would triumph and take the second set as well to win the match 2-0 (7-6, 6-2).

Booher would also give his all during his singles match, where he faced Agarwal. While Agarwal swiftly snatched the first set up 6-1, Booher fought back in the second and grabbed four games of his own. Pushing his opponent to step up his game, Booher attempted to capitalize on his game wins, but was overcome in the second set. He lost the match 2-0 (6-1, 6-4).

Caltech 8, Hope International 1

Singles

1. Ram Kandasamy (CIT) def. Gregory Cobain (HIU), 2-0 (6-1, 6-2)
2. Karthik Narsimhan (CIT) def. Gerardo Laureano (HIU), 2-0 (7-6, 6-2)
3. Anish Agarwal (CIT) def. Christian Booher (HIU), 2-0, (6-1, 6-4)
4. Wesley Yu (CIT) def. Justin Sutherlin (HIU), 2-0, (6-0, 6-0)
5. Scott Liao (CIT) def. Nathan Deghi (HIU), 2-0, (6-0, 6-0)
6. Brian Kim (CIT) def. Michael Lipert (HIU), 2-0, (6-0, 6-0)

Doubles

1. Cobain/Laureano (HIU) def. Narsimhan/Yu (CIT), 8-5
2. Agarwal/John Chen (CIT) def. Booher/Sutherlin (HIU), 8-6
3. Matt Fu/Amol Kamat (CIT) def. Deghi/Lipert (HIU), 8-1

As the Beavers of Caltech claim a 2-0 record, the Royals drop to 0-1. They will look to claim their first win of the season on Saturday as they open Golden State Athletic Conference play at home against Vanguard.  First serve is scheduled at 12:00 pm at Cal State Fullerton.

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