Hamlet Nalbandyan
Hovik Mazmanyan was hoping to become Glendale High's first boys'
tennis player since Robert Yim to win a Pacific League singles title.
Crescenta Valley's Ryan Chang and Eric Ueo were hoping to cap
their four-year varsity careers by going out on top in doubles.
Unfortunately for the only local representatives in Wednesday's
Pacific League final, they didn't exactly get what they wanted.
Mazmanyan was upset in the semifinals by Arcadia's Chris Chen, and
had to settle for third place.
Chang and Ueo were also beaten in the semifinals, and even worse,
lost in the third-place match in a heartbreaker.
"It's disappointing, but we tried our best," said Ueo momentarily
after he and his partner lost, 9-8 (8-6), against Arcadia's Gabriel
Olmeda and Jason Bres.
As disappointed as Ueo and Chang were, it paled in comparison to
how Nitro Coach Bob Davidson felt after watching Mazmanyan's
performance in the semifinals.
The Glendale sophomore -- seeded second in the draw -- was facing
Arcadia's Jacob Wang (seeded third), a player he had beaten 6-0, 6-1
in two matches this season.
However, Mazmanyan resembled nothing of the player who had lost
just twice in league this season.
Wang beat him, 6-3, in the first set before disposing him in the
second, 6-0.
"I didn't have a good night's sleep, and I was really tired," said
Mazmanyan.
Added Davidson: "The bottom line is it was a very lackadaisical
effort, and that's disappointing.
"He has a lot of ability, but he's sometimes not there mentally,
and there's no excuse for that."
Prior to Wednesday, many thought Mazmanyan could challenge
Arcadia's Zach Au (No. 1 seed) for the league title. In their second
meeting of the regular season, Mazmanyan beat Au, 6-4. However, with
Mazmanyan eliminated, Au breezed to the league championship by
beating Wang, 6-3, 6-1.
In the third-place match, Mazmanyan continued to struggle against
Chen, falling behind, 3-0, before eventually posting an 8-6 victory.
"It's disappointing, but I've still got two more years to go,"
Mazmanyan said.
If only Ueo and Chang -- singles players who decided to pair up in
doubles for a possible title run -- had that same luxury. Their
careers might have ended on a down note, but it wasn't for a lack of
effort.
Ueo and Chang, seeded third in the draw after finishing third in
the league final as juniors, battled tough in the semifinals before
losing, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 to Arcadia's Hiro Koda and Justin Saeheng, who
fell to teammates Peter Lin and Martin Chi in the final.
In the third-place match, Ueo and Chang held leads of 7-6 and 8-7,
but couldn't hold on and had to go to a tiebreaker.
There, they were a point away from winning at 6-5, but the Apache
duo of Olmeda and Bres won the next three points.
* HAMLET NALBANDYAN covers sports. He can be reached at (818)
637-3226 or by e-mail at hamlet.nalbandyan@latimes.com.
