Bulls Complete Action at ITA Regional Championships

Nikesh Singh Panthlia

PRINCETON, NJ – Two University at Buffalo men’s tennis players, Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) and Kirill Kolomytes (Moscow, Russia/Moscow High School 155) represented the Bulls at the 2007 ITA Regional Championships in Princeton, NJ. Both players scored first-round singles wins before bowing out in the second round. The two also combined to play doubles at the tournament.

Singh Panthlia opened play with a first-round win over Dartmouth’s Jeffrey Schechtman. The match was extended to a full three sets as Singh Panthlia opened with a 6-1 win in the first set but dropped a tiebreaker in the second set. In the deciding set, Singh Panthlia rolled to a 6-2 win to advance into the second round.

Kirill Kolomytes

In the second round, Singh Panthlia was defeated in straight sets by Brown’s Saurabh Kohli, 6-1, 7-5. Kohli, the tournament’s 14th seed, earned a first-round bye before defeating Singh Panthlia. Kohli went on to defeat Niagara’s Walter Garcia in three sets in Sunday’s third round.

Kolomytes played at the bottom of the 128-player draw. Late Friday, he picked up a 6-3, 6-4 win over Colgate’s Dan Urban. Kolomytes’ win set up a match against the tournament’s number two seed, Princeton’s Peter Capkovic. Kolomytes was eliminated from the competition with his 6-1, 6-1 loss to Capkovic late Saturday. Singh Panthlia and Kolomytes also paired in doubles play but were bounced out in the first round with an 8-4 loss to Matt Gordon and Phil Stephens of Fairleigh Dickinson.

The Bulls complete their fall tournament schedule next weekend at the Cornell Fall Invitational.