Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Sands in CCS semifinals

By Dick Sparrer

Chris Sands of Los Gatos came close to playing for a Central Coast Section tennis title.

So did the Monta Vista doubles team of Taiki Homma and Gene Yu.

But as it turns out, they just ran into CCS champions a match too soon.

Sands lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to Scotty Scott of Pinewood in the CCS single semifinals to face elimination from the tournament. Scott went on to nail the section title a match later.

It was a similar story for Homma and Yu. They dropped a 6-4, 6-1 nod to Eike Fraerks and Matt Badowski of Monterey in the semifinals, only to watch the Monterey pair go on to claim the CCS crown.

Still, it was a pretty nice run for both Sands and the Monta Vista duo.

Sands opened the tourney with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Fred Jabbour of Leland, then whipped Bryan Vasu of Monterey 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals to earn a berth in the semi's.

Sands, the No. 2 seed in the tourney, lost to Scott, the No. 3 seed, in three sets to fall out of competition.

Monta Vista's Vijay Sekhon also won a match in singles play, opening with a 7-6, 6-0 win over Lund Smith of Pinewood. But the Monta Vista senior lost 6-4, 6-1 to Marcel Hlousek of San Mateo in the quarterfinals.

Nathan Brown of Homestead dropped a tough three-set decision to Nick Garrone of Robert Louis Stevenson in the first round. Brown lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

In doubles action, Homma and Yu knocked off Damon Clark and Ben Allen of Gunn 6-0, 6-0 in the first round, then whipped Donovan Lee and Dat Ngo of Silver Creek in the quarterfinals. The Matadors, seeded No. 2 in the tourney, lost to Fraerks and Badowski, the No. 3 seed, in the semi's.

Richard Lu and Chris Tsui of Monta Vista opened the CCS tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 win over David Cheng and Alan Shaw of Leland, but lost 6-4, 6-4 to Jason Blue-Smith and David Wermuth of Palo Alto in the quarters.