Two Lions Head to Ohio

Justin Chow and Bogdan Borta looked like world-beaters last week when they won the doubles title at the Northeast Regional tournament. The victory landed them a spot in today’s National Indoor Championships in Columbus, Ohio, where they play their first-round match against Fedrico Chavaria and Andrei Daescu of Oklahoma State.

A trip to Indoor Nationals for Chow and Borta seemed impossible, especially considering that the two had not played as a doubles team until last week. The decision to put Chow and Borta together was made on a whim by head coach Bid Goswami. “Sometimes you get lucky,” Goswami said.

Chow and Borta have complemented one another well. Borta bashes the ball from the baseline, opening up the court for Chow, who crowds the net and smashes weak returns. Both players have said that they would stick to this game plan in their next match.

Chow noted that he and Borta were playing as under-dogs. “We have nothing to lose. We have everything to win. In the back of our minds, we want to make sure that we can win this tournament. But there’s no pressure on us. All the pressure lies on the big name players,” Chow said.

Chow and Borta prepared for the tournament with Paul Ratchford, a top doubles player for the Lions last year. Ratchford played a few games against Chow and Borta, priming them for today’s match. “We practiced hard at Baker. We had Paul Ratchford come in and play. It was a tough week,” Chow said.

As far as the opposition goes, Chow and Borta don’t have a scouting report. Borta recognized the name of fellow Romanian Daescu but had not seen him play. “He’s from Romania. I don’t know much, he’s younger than me. We were playing at different age levels,” Borta said.

Chow offered more information: “We play two guys from Oklahoma State, and they’re pretty good. They won their region, also.”

Goswami said that he didn’t know where Chow and Borta fit in among the great doubles teams of Columbia’s halcyon days. “I’ll tell you after this weekend, we’ll find out how good they are.” Goswami said.

Weekend warriors Mark Clemente and Jonathan Wong sallied out to Tallahassee, Fla., for extra play in the Florida State Invitational on Friday. Clemente was dynamite last week in the Northeast Regional tournament. He was the only player to win a set from the winner of the singles draw.