KNIGHTS TENNIS DOMINATES TRUMAN TOURNAMENT

The Barstow boys tennis team won the Truman Tournament with a strong showing in every category.  In the A singles, Sankeerth Gandhari rolled through the first two rounds with a 10-2 win over Kearney and a 10-1 win over Grain Valley in the semis.  In the finals, Sankeerth faced a strong Lee's Summit North player and won the first set 6-2.  After losing the second set 2-6, Sunny lost in a tough match tiebreaker (8-10) to win a second-place medal.

In A doubles Richey and Bobby King rolled through the opening round  10-0 against Truman and then beat a solid Staley duo, 10-1.  Richey and Bobby brought their best tennis to the finals facing a Grain Valley pair that in 2021 had medaled in the Class 2 State doubles tournament.  With strong first serves and a smothering net game, the Kings dominated with a 6-0, 6-0 win.  

In the B singles, Dylan Markey whipped two Lee's Summit North players 10-1 in the first round and followed with a 10-2  win in the semis.  In the finals, Dylan handily rolled to a 6-1 win in the first round set but lost his second set 5-7 to force a match tiebreaker.  Dylan held the lead throughout and hung on for a 10-8 TB win for the first-place medal in that category.  

In the B doubles, George Colombo and Aaram Salam defeated Truman 10-8 in the opening round and followed with a 10-2 win in the semis against a tough Grain Valley team.  The boys brought their best tennis to the finals and walked off with first-place medals and a 10-2 victory.  

Finally, as a wild card entry as the tournament needed an extra doubles team, the Barstow freshman duo of Liam Cahill and Shayan Ahmed opened with an upset of the #3 seed from Lee's Summit North, 10-4.  The Knights lost 10-4 to that solid Grain Valley doubles team that Richey and Bobby would later face.  But Liam and Shayan showed resilience and poise in the battle for third place medals against a tough Staley duo, losing 3-6 in the first set, but rallied 6-3 in the second set and dominated the tiebreaker for a 10-3 win and third place medals.  

The boys take on Rockhurst on Wednesday at the Barstow courts at 4:00.