Central Bucks East, the District One five seed, had its historic team tennis run end on Friday in the PIAA 3A quarterfinals at the Hershey Racquet Club. Downingtown East nipped the Patriots 3-2. This was CB East’s first time at the state tournament.
Patriots Seth Patel/Jerry Cheng won the first double point 6-3, 7-6 over Ashwin Natarajan/Nico Pascale. Sophomore Alan Zhang also won his point, and second singles, 6-4, 6-1 over Soumil Patel.
The Cougars took the first and third singles points and eked out a hard-fought second doubles victory. Brandon Gabrys/Arudra Ravikanth squeaked by East’s Aaron Rose/Fedir Knyazkov 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (8) in a match that couldn’t have been more competitive.
CB East won its opening round match 3-2 against District Three champion Dallastown.
Zhang and teammate Sal Ponamgi have another shot at states. The District One bronze medalists take on District 12 champions, St. Joe’s Prep seniors Connor Kryst/Sam Seneca, when the PIAA 3A doubles tournament opens in Hershey on May 24.
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