Sportime Junior Tournament Player News – Year End

 

We had two tournaments here at Sportime Schenectady in December, a Level 6 Junior Holiday Tournament and a Level 7 Junior Holiday Tournament Tournament.  Sportime players performed well in both. 

The Level 6 tournament was held on December 18^th and 19^th.  Albany Academy’s Dhev Jammula swept the Boys 18 and Unders losing only 5 games the entire tournament.  Niskayuna’s Arthur Leung took second place honors in the Boys 16 and under age group.  Jeevika Benki (Niskayuna) finished atop the Girls 18 & under bracket with Hope Brown of Bethlehem finishing second. 

This past weekend, Sportime Schenectady hosted the Level 7 Holiday Junior Tournament.  Maanya Nallamothu of Guilderland won the Girls 12 & under event.  Isabel Amurao came in second.  It was Maanya’s first tournament win.  “I practice every day and it paid off.  I feel like I hit balls harder and they go in more.”  Roger Sheng – another Guilderland student lost a hard fought battle with Aksel Kelling (Saratoga) in the Boys 12 finals.  Afterwards Aksel told Roger “we are going to play a lot of finals against each other.”  Roger told me “I always like playing Aksel because it’s always really close.”  Vivek Lanka won the Boys 16 and Unders.

Sportime players have also played a lot of great tennis out of the area – particularly our 12 and unders.  Zain Choudry and Olivia Dartawan who both go to Niskayuna just recently got to the semifinals of a Level 4 Mixed Doubles Tournament in the 14 and under age division.  They also won a Level 4 Mixed Doubles event earlier in the month.  Zain also played the Level 2 12 & Under National Team Cup and had 3 wins in 4 rounds.  Meanwhile, Olivia finished third in doubles at the Girls 12 and Under National Indoors with partner Sarah Ye and won a Level 5 - 14 and under tournament at the Longfellow Club in Nassau, NH.  Rajeev Rai – yet another Guilderland player - was a finalist in the Boy’s 12 and unders at the Longfellow Club.  He also won a Level 5 Boys 12’s tournament at Centercourt (Chatham, NJ) and finished third in a Level 5 at Intensity Tennis Club (Norwalk, CT).   Another Sportime 12 and under player – Alexis Alfred (Shaker) – won the Level 5 Junior Tournament at Centercourt - December 3rd weekend.  “It was a great experience and a great feeling, to be gone from tennis for a while and then come back and win.” 

We had success in other age groups too.  Guilderland #1 player Mahen Bitkuri was a semifinalist in a Level 6 tournament at CourtSense at Bogota and he won a Level 6 Tournament at Pinewoods Health and Racquet Club in Torrington, CT.  Juliette Ceas (Shaker) and Katrina Setchenkov (Guilderland) got to the semifinals at the Guilford Racquet & Swim Clubs Level 4 Thanksgiving Tournament.  After losing in the semifinals, they came back to win the playoff match for third place.

It’s great to see so many Sportime players competing in these tournaments and doing so well.  Keep up the good work, we will be following your successes.