Springfield >> Battling through an ankle injury suffered Friday, West Chester East junior Ben Gao won both of his playback matches Saturday at the District 1 3A boys tennis singles tournament at the Springfield YMCA to finish in fifth place, clinching the final berth in the upcoming PIAA 3A state singles tournament.
“I’m so proud of Ben; he fought hard the whole tournament,” said West Chester East boys tennis Mike Orenshaw. “When he went down (rolled his left ankle) in the first set of his first match on Friday, he went down hard, and I thought, ‘I don’t know how many games he’s going to be able to play.’ I thought he was going to have to stop that match.
“But he fought all the way through – he lost a tough quarterfinal Friday against a good player from Lower Merion (Nathan Dolgushev). But he didn’t let it bother him today.”
Four players competed in the playback rounds Saturday for the fifth-place spot – and the final berth in the PIAA 3A state singles tourney.
In his first playback match Saturday, Gao defeated Radnor senior Antonio Fidelibus, 6-3, 6-2, then beat Central Bucks East’s Sal Ponamgl (the sixth seed), 6-0, 3-6, 6-1, in the fifth-place match.
This will be the second trip to the state singles tourney for Gao, who finished fifth in the District 1 3A singles tournament last year. He is only the second Viking ever to qualify for the PIAA state singles tournament.
“It feels great to get that state (berth),” said Gao. “Going into this tournament I was nervous – there’s pressure when you’ve already gone to states once. I think the key for me in the third set (against Ponamgl) was battling through. Sal’s a streaky player – he goes on streaks where he’s just (unbeatable).”
Orenshaw said, “I was most impressed with Ben’s consistency. He didn’t let any point go. He fought through every single point. He was in a little bit of pain after his first match today, but his movement on the court despite the (ankle) injury was really, really good.”
In the District 1 3A singles semifinals Saturday, Conestoga freshman Ethan Sun defeated Unionville junior Matt Miller, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3, while Lower Merion’s Brian Yi defeated Dolgushev, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.
Sun, who finished second in the Central League singles tournament last week and was the second seed in the District 1 singles tourney, said, “I think the key for me in the semifinal was staying patient, and making sure I made first serve.”
Sun then lost to Yi in the singles championship final Saturday, with the Lower Merion senior prevailing 6-3, 6-0.
Yi said, “I had to bring my A game against Ethan – he’s a really good player, and he gave me a run for my money.”
In the third place match Saturday, Miller defeated Dolgushev, 6-1, retired.
“Today I was able to stay consistent on my forehand and my backhand, and was able to attack the ball on big points,” said Miller, who is headed to the state singles tourney for the first time. “This is a really good atmosphere here; I know a lot of the people here from high school tennis, so it’s nice to talk to them and have some fun and play some good matches.”
