Only Zavoyskiy Can Stop Ortiz

It has been proven that “on any given day, anybody can win a game.” When this occurs, it usually applies to an “underdog” player. At the New York City Boys Handball Individuals held Wednesday, many underdogs took to the concrete handball courts at Grand Street Campus and proved just that.

Under the threatening dark skies, #16 seed Mathew Arroyo (Alfred E. Smith) astoundingly beat #1 seed Jonathan Camacho (Fort Hamilton) 21-14 in the first round of 16, and #12 seed Dennis Ortiz (Van Arsdale) shocked #5 Anthony Delgado (Bronx Science) in the 1st round 21-4 and repeated himself again in a marathon 21-20 match over #8 Winston Shek. However, now it was time to face the defending city Individuals’ champion, #2 seed Stan Zavoyskiy (Midwood) in the finals. Zavoyskiy had little difficulty in his rounds defeating #15 Shone Thomas (Martin Van Buren) 21-0, and handling #7 Jonathan Galarza (Economics & Finance) 21-4. Zavoyskiy now had to deal with #3 seed Danny Rivera (Grand St Campus) who also played well in his matches. Rivera’s speed and acrobatic moves was no match for Zavoyskiy’s power killshots as he beat Rivera 21-14 in the semis. Offering no competition for Zavoyskiy in the finals, the tired Dennis Ortiz was quickly eliminated 21-7, and Zavoyskiy, now a senior, retained his singles title. Rivera defeated Shek 21-7 for 3rd place.

Rodriguez Brothers Dominate City’s

Lots of power, great angle placement, and flat rollouts led #2 seed Luis and Ricardo Rodriguez (Grand St. Campus) to the 2006 NYC Individuals Doubles title. After falling short in the Brooklyn Borough individuals to their own teammates, Chris Santiago and Saul Gonzalez, the Rodriguez brothers predicted they would face their friends again in the city finals.

Seeded at #1 Santiago & Gonzalez overpowered Allen Chen & Eric Chung (Bronx Science) 21-10 and Christian Zuniga & Christopher Hyland (Queens Vocational) 21-18. Heading into the finals, they awaited Luis & Ricardo who were busy defeating Bryant’s Jonathan Luna & James Hidalgo 21-5 and Brooklyn Tech’s Edward Cheung & Jeffrey Cheng 21-18. The finals had the four Grand St Campus boys smiling, not focusing too much on what they were competing for. As the game progressed however, game faces came on. The Grand Street NYC Team doubles champions fought hard to the end but it was the Luis Rodriguez power that took control as the brothers captured the City Individuals title 21-10. Christian Zuniga & Christopher Hyland defeated the Brooklyn Tech doubles 21-14 for 3rd place.