SPRINGFIELD -- Jefferson City's Arjun Garikapaty and Hoang Hoang clinched all-state honors Thursday during the Class 2 boys tennis doubles state tournament at Cooper Tennis Complex.
Garikapaty and Hoang won their first-round match by forfeit against Lincoln College Prep's Nicolas Wirz and Lincoln Merrigan. The Jays duo then won 6-3, 4-6 (11-9 match tiebreaker) against Rolla's Keaton Renaud and Joe Foster in the quarterfinals to guarantee themselves a top-four finish in the state.
Garikapaty and Hoang will return to the courts this morning to face Ladue's Aiden Qian and Charles Randall -- last year's state champions -- in the semifinals. The Jefferson City doubles pairing will then face either Jai Patel and Arjun Puri of MICDS or Parkway West's Kai Daudsyah and Winston Gao for either third or first place in the state tournament.
Jefferson City's other doubles pairing, Avnith Kumar and Cedric Walter, ended their season with a 1-2 record in Thursday's action at the state tournament.
Kumar and Walter lost 2-6, 6-2 (8-10 match tiebreaker) in their first-round match against Mehlville's Aydin Pasic and Anes Ramic. The Jefferson City pairing extended their season with a 6-1, 7-6 (7-2 set tiebreaker) victory against Glendale's Eli Hancock and Zane Hancock in the first round of the consolation bracket.
In the consolation bracket quarterfinals, Kumar and Walter lost 1-6, 2-6 to Westminster Christian's Noah Suthar and Alan Walker, falling one win short of earning all-state honors.
Coen Loethen of Helias also came up one win short of achieving all-state status, posting a 1-2 record in the Class 2 singles state tournament.
Loethen began his day with a 6-2, 6-1 victory in the first round against Thomas Jefferson Independent's Jack Goodhue, who bounced back later in the day with two wins in the consolation bracket to clinch all-state honors and a top-eight finish.
In the quarterfinals, Loethen lost 6-1, 2-6 (3-10 match tiebreaker) to Branson's Ben Merrifield, who clinched a top-four finish at state for the second straight season. Loethen then fell 5-7, 3-6 to Fort Zumwalt South's Benny Schwende in the consolation bracket quarterfinal round, ending his season.