Liberty, Central Catholic duos earn championships
In the first six games of Wednesday’s District 11 Class 3A doubles final, Liberty’s Anthony Ronca and Shayaan Farhad couldn’t miss.
The top-seeded Hurricanes duo displayed precision and consistency while building a 5-1 first-set lead against a familiar opponent in Parkland’s team of Dan Zolotarev and Fyodor D’Souza. But after a pair of unsuccessful set points, the tides turned drastically.
While Zolotarev-D’Souza caught fire, Ronca-Farhad’s game tightened up. The Trojans won six games in a
row, stealing the set and leaving the Hurricanes shaking their heads.
That’s when Ronca and Farhad had an important decision to make: Would they respond positively after a devastating first-set loss or would they crumble?
The Hurricanes chose the road to success as they bounced back to win the final two sets 6-0, 6-3 to claim district gold at Parkland High School.
“[Parkland] showed they could play after the comeback they made,” Ronca said. “We went into that second set with the thought that we weren’t going to lose. No way we were losing.
“We just executed. It feels awesome.”
Additionally, Farhad was in his final day of Ramadan on Wednesday, which meant no hydration during his semifinal or final match.
A three-set win in the semifinals against Southern Lehigh’s Spencer Goodman-Noah Tobin made things a little tougher.
“I’m definitely dehydrated and a little lightheaded right now, but I kept my faith throughout,” Farhad said. “This was the goal from the beginning. We play year-round with Coach [Chris] Conrad. He’s an incredible coach, the best coach around.
“It just feels great to win gold.” Ronca-Farhad advance to the PIAA doubles championships, which will be played Memorial Day weekend at the Hershey Racquet Club.
Zolotarev-D’Souza knocked off Stroudsburg’s John Willis-Jackson Kozma in the semifinals. Although their individual season comes to a close, the Parkland pair will look ahead to the PIAA team championships as the Trojans ready for Tuesday’s first-round match.
Class 2A
Central Catholic has been flying high since claiming the District 11 Class 2A title last week. That momentum carried over to the doubles championships Wednesday.
No. 3 seed Jesse Coulter-Tim Spinosa were overpowering in their final as they knocked off Bethlehem Catholic’s top-seeded team of Armaan Makwana and Anthony Barczynski, 6-1, 6-2, to claim gold.
“This past week was definitely unexpected for me as a freshman — hopefully this is one of many,” Spinosa said. “We hit big, strong top-spin shots and had a lot of energy. Jesse played great and he always had my back.”
Coulter-Spinosa also advance to the PIAA doubles tournament and will take the next couple of weeks to sharpen their game and prepare mentally.
“Our chemistry improved throughout the tournament — we were very tactical,” Coulter said. “It feels great and we are happy, but I think we’re done celebrating and ready to get back to work.”
Earlier in the day, Coulter-Spinosa won a three-set semifinal against Moravian Academy’s Will Menichelli-Ford Koch, while Makwana-Barczynski also won in three sets against Saucon Valley’s Matt Nagy-Joseph Andres.