Bears are back on top in GMC tennis

BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

Above, East Brunswick's Neil Mirchandini tries a drop shot during his third singles finals match win over South Brunswick's Mike Finkelberg (below) on Saturday at Thomas Edison Park in Edison. When J.P. Stevens won the Greater Middlesex Conference Boys Tennis Tournament last year, some wondered whether it marked the end of an era.

After all, by dethroning East Brunswick, the Hawks ended a five-year reign of Bear dominance, finally finding a way to topple what has long been the conference's premier team.

There were those who thought the Hawk win last spring may have paved the way for other strong teams in the GMC to enter the championship mix.

Talented and deep squads like South and North Brunswick were expecting to challenge the Bears this year, with the Vikings looking to finally earn the team title after taking second place the last two years.

However, East Brunswick was poised to send a message to the rest of the conference last week - and that message was received loud and clear.

SCOTT PILLING staff The Bears are still the team to beat in the GMC.

It was an impressive display of depth that led to East Brunswick's GMCT win last week at Thomas Edison Park in Edison. From the start, the Bears played well in every flight, reaching the championship round in four of the five flights, guaranteeing themselves at least a tie for the title before play started on Saturday.

South Brunswick still had a shot at a piece of the title when the championship round began, but needed the Bears to lose in all four flights on Saturday, including a pair of head-to-head matches with Viking players.

But the Bears wouldn't slip up, earning a trio of wins - at third singles, where Neil Mirchandani beat South Brunswick's Mike Finkelberg, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, and in the two doubles finals.

Sahil Sheth and Mike Wu claimed the first doubles title with a 6-3, 6-0 win over J.P. Stevens' Phil Mayer and Stephen Chang, but not before Aaron Sachs and Ken Shyu beat the Vikings' Nick Dou and Edward Rodionov, 6-2, 6-4, to lock up the team title for the Bears.

Mayer and Chang played a big role in the Bears' win, as they knocked off South Brunswick's tandem of Arjum Kumble and Niket Khanna, 2-6, 6-4, 6-0, in the semifinals, denying the Vikings a shot at the Bears' top team, and some valuable points.

South Brunswick was able to secure its fourth straight second-place finish with 11 team points, however, while North Brunswick and Piscataway finished tied for third with eight points.

The Raider effort was led by Amit Singh's win at second singles, as the top seed beat East Brunswick's Eric Levi, 6-1, 6-1. Levi, however, greatly helped the Bears' cause on Thursday when he beat second-seeded Najeeb Hussain of South Brunswick. Hussain, who had beaten Levi in straight sets, was suffering from an illness and simply couldn't compete with Levi, seeded sixth.

He could not rekindle the same kind of magic against Singh, however, who was impressive throughout the tournament, losing just six games in the semifinals and finals combined.

Singh's brother, Guarav, was not as fortunate, falling to defending champion Chidhi Gabriel of Piscataway in the first singles final, 6-0, 6-0. Singh, who won the first singles title in 2005 but fell to Gabriel in the semis last year, had a rare off day on Saturday, allowing Gabriel to cruise to his second consecutive title.

Saturday's consolation matches saw several other local players finish on a winning note, starting with Sayreville's Andrew Musyoka at first singles. Musyoka, who fell to Gabriel, 6-2, 6-3, on Thursday, came back to beat Woodbridge junior Kevin Gabel, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), on Saturday to finish third.

While St. Joseph's Hani Mayassi won his second singles consolation bout by default, Stevens' Howard Telson beat J.F. Kennedy's Trevor Jaye, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, to take third at third singles.

Monroe's Mat Sepe and Kevin Murtha fell to Sheth and Wu, 6-3, 6-1, on Thursday, but came back to take third at first doubles by beating the Vikings' Kumble and Khanna, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, on Saturday. It was an impressive win for the fourth-seeded tandem from Monroe.

The second doubles consolation match went to Edison's Abhi Shenoy and Karan Nijhawan, who beat JFK's Hardik Shah and Shahank Gupta, 6-3, 7-5.

With the GMCT now out of the way, local teams can start thinking about the upcoming state tournament. Entries for the tournament closed on Tuesday, meaning nearly all of the local teams are postseason-bound.

In Central Jersey Group IV, East Brunswick (14-1) should be among the top seeds, along with West Windsor-Plainsboro South and Marlboro.

Also in this bracket will be South Brunswick (8-2), North Brunswick (5-4) and Sayreville (10-1).

Monroe (7-2) will be looking for a high seed in Central Jersey Group III, while Spotswood gets a spot in CJ Group II. South River, which has played to a 7-4 record despite nearly an entirely new lineup, will look to surprise some people in CJ Group I.