Tuesday’s rivalry opener featured possible previews of league
finals
MORGAN HILL — Davinder Kapel admits his badminton expertise is limited, but the Sobrato coach knows he has a promising group this season. It includes 16 varsity veterans.
After finishing last in the West Valley Division in 2009, the Bulldogs took a big step in the right direction Tuesday at Live Oak High School. Led by seasoned performances from top singles Ashley Tharayil and Roatanak Mov, Sobrato won several three-set swing matches to defeat the rival Acorns 10-5 in their league opener — and live up to Kapel’s praise.
“I honestly see a lot of our players going far this year,” the first-year head coach said. “Their badminton experience may not be as good as some of their opponents, but they work hard every day and try to improve each match and practice.”
Kapel expects Tharayil and his entire boys singles corps to challenge for spots in the Central Coast Section Tournament. That includes juniors Andrew Boyd, Anthony Langga and Mov, who show superb fundamentals.
“Their mechanics are good,” Kapel said. “They do a good job working their opponents around the court.”
Tharayil, a third-year starter, won a three-set marathon Tuesday against Emily Mandel, whom she will likely meet again in the conference finals tournament. Mandel looks even more polished since last spring when she broke through as a junior to place third in league.
Only the top finishers in each discipline advance to sectionals.
“It’s possible I can make CCS. I think I have as good a chance as anyone,” Mandel said. “This year, I feel like I can play the entire court and move the game where I want it to go. I can clear better, and my smashes are stronger.”
Second-year coach Bharat Poria, who plans to hand his position over to assistant coach Linda Seals in the coming weeks, thinks his girls singles group is one of the best in league. The Acorns have four players — Mandel, Alexandra Muniz, Ada Tan and three-sport letterman Mika Matsumoto — who will battle for starting spots each week.
“They’re going to push each other,” Poria said.
Both Morgan Hill teams feature up-and-coming No. 1 boys tandems, though Live Oak’s Peter Mains and Addien Wray beat Kevin Schultz and Bryan Sperbeck convincingly Tuesday.
Mains has not ruled out the possibility of an undefeated regular season.
“The goal is to win every match, but you never know,” the senior said. “Addien and I have been playing together for a long time, and we’re good friends. We kind of know what’s going to happen when we play together, so it works out. We’re going to try to lose as few matches as we can.”
