SAN ANTONIO — Argyle’s Meghna Arun Kumar had a simple aspiration when she began her journey two years ago into high school tennis.
Kumar, who has played competitively for less than a decade, wanted to walk away with a sense of enjoyment each time she played. The results, she said, weren’t the focus.
But a funny thing occurred. One win turned into two, then into 25, 50 and more. The accolades and medals were plentiful.
Kumar continued her dominance on Thursday during the first day of the UIL Class 5A state championships at Annemarie Tennis Center, winning two matches to advance to a state final for the third consecutive year. She will play College Station’s Maya Diyashev in the final at 9 a.m. Friday, seeking to attain a third state singles crown in as many years.
“I feel like it helps with the nerves and everything,” Kumar, who has won more than 100 straight matches without dropping a set, said of having previous state tournament experience. “I’m excited about [Friday]. I’m an in-the-moment type of person. I just like to see the ball, hit the ball.”
The approach worked to perfection as Kumar blanked Frisco Independence’s Shriya Aviur 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals and rolled past McAllen Memorial’s Dania Casas 6-2, 6-2 in the first round.
“I never slow down the ball,” said Kumar, who won singles in Class 4A as a freshman in 2022 and in 5A a year ago after Argyle moved up in classification during the UIL biennial realignment in 2022. “My first thing is always to be aggressive.”
Not how you start...
Pinkston’s Malcolm Moore twice found himself in early holes during singles competition at the Class 4A state tournament.
Both times, though, he conjured a response that has him on the doorstep of history.
A sophomore, Moore will play for a state championship and will try to become the first Dallas ISD male athlete to claim the top prize since 1929 and the first overall since Anne Gilliam won singles in 2016. He takes on Lindale’s Emilio Rodriguez at 9 a.m. Friday.
“I try not to think about that, so I can stay focused,” Moore said.
Having concentration was paramount on a humid and overcast day for Moore. In the semifinals, he trailed 3-1 in the first set to Waco Robinson’s Kaden Slider after having his serve broken, but rebounded by winning 11 of the final next 12 games, including eight in a row at one juncture.
“I just kind of had to wake myself up,” Moore said. “I was just missing a lot of shots.”
In his opening contest, Moore rallied past Andrews’ Maddox Foster 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3.
Doubles the fun...
The Dallas area will have a strong presence at Friday’s doubles competition.
An area team is guaranteed to win the 5A boys title as Frisco Centennial teams of Shriyan Daggumalli and Aarav Sangan and Eduardo Cruz and Akshay Kommineni both advanced to the finale at 11 a.m.
Both squads had to go overtime during the semifinal matchups to prevail, with Daggumalli and Sangan outlasting College Station’s Paxton O’Shea and Ford Elizondo 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Cruz and Kommineni rallied after losing the first set to clip Friendswood’s Michael Lanni Jr. and Yan Terekhin 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
In girls doubles, Frisco Wakeland’s Ella Wertz and Mariella Davie will tangle with Grapevine’s Emilia Gyorgy and Sara Gyorgy in the final. Wertz and Davie topped Leander Glenn’s Alissyn Chan and Juhitha Kashidi 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinals, while the Gyorgys romped past San Antonio MacArthur’s Ryan Sallee and Rylie Marafioto 6-0, 6-0.
In 6A girls doubles, Allen’s Chelsie Son and Saheba Singh had little trouble vs. Fort Bend Clements’ Jastine Escamos and Angela Shu, securing a 6-1, 6-2 triumph to move on to the final vs. Round Rock Westwood’s Anwi Duduka and Dana Kardonik.
In 5A mixed doubles, Frisco Lebanon Trail’s Aaditt Rishi and Addison Rosser topped Abilene Wylie’s Trevor Short and Hope Willis 7-6 (4), 6-3. They will play Richmond Foster’s Andrea Delgado and Sebastian Delgado in the final.
Because play was behind schedule, Southlake Carroll’s boys doubles team of Andy Li and Rushil Rajpal and Plano West’s mixed doubles squad of Gopal Koduri and Cody Huang were still on the court.
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