First Posted: 5/30/2013
Sahas Chandragiri, Cierra Beck, and Jamil Islam were the champions of the First Memorial Weekend Junior Tennis Tournament at the Scranton Tennis Club.
Chandragiri, a freshman at Abington Heights High School, had to overcome the Woodruff brothers from Pittston Area High School to secure the win.
In the semifinals he knocked off top-seeded Trent Woodruff 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final against third-seeded Tyler Woodruff, who had posted a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Tom Meehan from North Pocono in the other semifinal.
In the final Chandragiri put a lot of pressure on his scrappy opponent by rushing the net at every opportunity. He trailed 4-5 in the first set, before rallying for a 7-5, 6-1 win.
In the girls final Beck, a junior at Abington Heights, renewed a rivalry with Emily Jonsson, a Scranton Prep freshman. The two played a long, hard-fought match when their teams met in the fall, and this match started out in similar fashion.
In the end Beck was again victorious, as she exhibited more patience and consistency to defeat Jonsson 6-2, 6-1.
To reach the final Jonsson outclassed top-seeded Amber Jadus of Valley View 6-2, 6-2, while Beck eliminated Maansi Malhotra of Scranton Prep 6-2, 6-3.
Islam, a Scranton High freshman, took the junior varsity singles title with a 6-1, 6-0 win over fellow Scranton High teammate, Robert Do.
Joe McNulty, Scranton Tennis Club pro and Scranton High School varsity tennis coach, was the tournament director, assisted by club president Mike Donohue.