Raghavan Thrills Jadwin With Thriller At #1, But Penn Fends Off Princeton Upset Bid 5-4

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Princeton junior Adhitya Raghavan has reached this level before, namely when he advanced to the semifinal of the 2017 British Junior Open, and he chose an opportune time to play at the highest level Wednesday night in the Tigers' first match back from the exam break. Raghavan knocked off reigning All-American Andrew Douglas, one of the nation's highest-ranked players, 3-2 to nearly lead Princeton to an upset of fourth-ranked Penn.

Ultimately, the Quakers were able to take two of the last three matches, including another thriller on Court 1, to hold on for a 5-4 victory.

The Tigers got off to the start they needed, winning three matches in the opening shift. Every victory went the distance, and two featured Princeton comebacks from 2-1 deficits. Raghavan got the first win on the board with his 12-10, 6-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7 victory over Douglas, the best individual win for a Princeton player this season.

ADHI WINS IT! pic.twitter.com/bvD1l5DIZu
— Princeton MSQUASH (@princetonmsq) January 30, 2019

Junior Gabriel Morgan was next in line. After trailing 2-1, Morgan grinded out an 11-8 win in the fourth to draw even, and then played a relentless, emotional fifth game that kept Karim Tarek off balance. His victory came on a perfect drop to the corner (with an emphatic fist pump to follow), and it gave Princeton a 2-1 lead. That advantage quickly became 3-1, as freshman Howe Cheng remained undefeated on the season, though this one ended a bit more abruptly than anybody hoped.

Cheng trailed Yash Bhargava 2-1 before fighting for an 11-9 win in the fourth. An already-physical match that included a 14-12 third game took its toll on Bhargava, who was injured in the fifth and was forced to default.

Penn drew even with wins at #4 and #9, and then took the lead with a 3-0 win at #8, but the senior duo of Clark Doyle and Cody Cortes both rallied from 2-1 deficits to go the distance. Doyle, who pulled out wins of 11-9 and 13-11 against highly touted freshman Aly Abou El Einen, fell just short 11-6 in the fifth, which secured the win for Penn. Undaunted, Cortes was brilliant in his final game and knocked off Michael Mehl 11-3 to give Princeton a fourth win.

The Tigers will continue a challenging homestand with a pair of matches this weekend, starting Saturday at noon against Harvard. Princeton will host Dartmouth Sunday at 11.

PENN 5, PRINCETON 4
1 - Adhitya Raghavan (Pr) d. Andrew Douglas 10, (6), 6, (4), 7
2 - Aly Abou El Einen (Pe) d. Clark Doyle (9), 9, 7, (11), 6
3 - David Yacobucci (Pe) d. Daelum Mawji 8, 6, 4
4 - James Flynn (Pe) d. Alex Engstrom 6, 10, (9), 2
5 - Cody Cortes (Pr) d. Michael Mehl (7), 9, (5), 8, 8
6 - Gabriel Morgan (Pr) d. Karim Tarek (9), 7, (5), 8, 8
7 - Howe Cheng (Pr) d. Yash Bhargava 1, (4), (12), 9, 3-1 ret.
8 - Wil Hagen (Pe) d. Duncan Joyce 12, 3, 8
9 - Jonathan Zeitels (Pe) d. Henry Parkhurst 4, 6, 7

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