Boys’ tennis: Tchan earns No. 1 seeding in City Individual singles draw
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Having led Taft to its second straight City Section team championship Friday, Josh Tchan will now try for something he doesn’t have: the City Individual singles title. Chan is the No. 1-seeded player in the 56-player draw and has a bye in the first round, which starts Tuesday. Tchan, a junior, had to default his semifinal match because of a heel injury in last year’s tournament.
Defending champion J.R. Sarmiento of Carson is seeded No. 2 and also has a first-round bye, as do the six remaining seeded players: Dennis Mkrtchian (Sherman Oaks CES), Ken Mkrtchian (also of SOCES), Dillon Klincke (North Hollywood), Ace Macias (Narbonne), 2007 finalist Rommel Orpiano (Carson), and Joseph Valentino (Eagle Rock).
Following are the pairings for Tuesday’s (11 a.m.) first-round matches at Balboa Sports Center in Encino:
#1 Josh Tchan (Taft), bye
William Guzman (Wilmington Banning) vs. Jonathan Jacobs (El Camino Real)
Richard Catabona (Van Nuys) vs. Chris Fistonich (San Pedro)
Dylan Carey (Los Angeles Marshall) vs. Payton Samarnmitr (Monroe)
#6 Ace Matias (Narbonne), bye
Enrique Chavez (Los Angeles Roosevelt) vs. Aaron Kim (Granada Hills)
Oliver Thornton (Palisades) vs. J.C. Leonardo (Eagle Rock)
Mikele Grando (Los Angeles University) vs. Josh Corado (Elizabeth)
#4 Ken Mkrtchian (Sherman Oaks CES), bye
Jose Garcia (Sylmar) vs. Chak Woo (Downtown Magnets)
Brett Allchorn (Palisades) vs. Joe Cho (Narbonne)
Herbert DeLeon (Elizabeth) vs. Jorge Mendoza (Fremont)
#7 Rommel Orpiano (Carson), bye
Amir Poorhamzeh (Westchester) vs. Corey Hsu (Van Nuys)
David Engelberg (Taft) vs. Thanh Ho (Downtown Magnets)
Eliezer Ramirez (Bell) vs. Jake Mills (Los Angeles Marshall)
Edwin Alvarado (Locke) vs. Perry Ngo (Sun Valley Poly)
Andrew Lee (Contreras) vs. Nathan Wells (Reseda)
Anthony Le (Narbonne) vs. Jose Chavez (Los Angeles Jordan)
#8 Joseph Valentino (Eagle Rock), bye
Oscar Zetina (Bell) vs. Simon Chhuar (Franklin)
Jesse An (Granada Hills Kennedy) vs. Jimmy Wellman (Taft)
Oliver Arreaga (Wilmington Banning) vs. Adam Lopez (Los Angeles Roosevelt)
#3 Dennis Mkrtchian (Sherman Oaks CES), bye
Avneesh Kohl (Reseda) vs. Mike Torres (San Pedro)
Jeffrey Teng (Cleveland) vs. Trinity Thornton (Palisades)
Danny Toro (Fremont) vs. Steven Chow (Franklin)
#5 Dillon Klincke (North Hollywood), bye
Jose Banuelos (Locke) vs. Alvin Samarnmitr (Monroe)
Ivan Lopez (Los Angeles Roosevelt) vs. Kurt Zweitel (Venice)
Jorge Valdiva (Elizabeth) vs. Kevin Surimonvong (Van Nuys)
#2 J.R. Sarmiento (Carson), bye
Notes: All rounds at Balboa Tennis Center. Second round, Thursday, 1 p.m.; third round, May 20, 1 p.m.; quarterfinals, May 22, 1 p.m.; semifinals, May 28, 2 p.m.; championship and third place, June 2, 2 p.m.
-- Steve Galluzzo