Mallaiah outlasts WBA’s Hamel to win District 2 Class 3A boys tennis singles title

Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.

WILKES-BARRE — After getting bounced from last year’s District 2 Class 3A boys tennis singles tournament in the semifinals, Praneel Mallaiah was hungry to get back to the top of the class.

He did so without dropping a set all week, clinching his second Class 3A singles title in three years after beating Michael Hamel of Wilkes-Barre Area 6-3, 7-5 at Kirby Park on Wednesday.

Mallaiah has been the top seed in the Class 3A field for three consecutive years now, and after a tough out in 2023, the top singles player for Abington Heights all year long showed exactly why he’s had such a great run in Class 3A over the years.

“I knew I had to put in the work over the summer and into the season,” Mallaiah said. “Just playing smarter on the court, that’s what helped me win today.”

This year’s final, Mallaiah and Hamel, was a rematch of the 2022 District 2 championship match. There, Mallaiah defeated Hamel, then a sophomore at Wilkes-Barre Area, 6-3, 6-0 to win the championship.

Hamel, playing this year in his fourth straight District 2 title match, proved more than a worthy opponent for Mallaiah, but the result remained the same as it was in 2022.

Two hard-fought sets both went the way of Mallaiah, winning the first 6-3 and rallying past Hamel after falling behind in the second to win 7-5 and lock up the district title.

“It was definitely a great contest between and Michael,” Mallaiah said. “His serve was on point. … Finally I was able to take that down a bit, play a bit smarter and safer and it enabled me to make that comeback.”

The semifinal matches in Class 3A were almost the polar opposite of their 2A counterparts on the other courts: while the 2A semis both went three sets and featured a lot of back-and-forth action, the 3A semis were largely quiet, with top seeds holding up.

Hamel was the first of the semifinal winners off the court, making quick work of Abington Heights’ William Arp by a 6-3, 6-2 final to reach his fourth straight district championship match.

Just a few minutes later, Mallaiah punched his own ticket to the finals. He defeated Delaware Valley’s Alex Mullen 6-2, 6-1 to make it back to the finals for the first time since winning it all in 2022.

Hamel’s Wolfpack career in singles competition comes to an end with four District 2 Class 3A silver medals in four tries, never missing a district final in his varsity career at Wilkes-Barre Area.

Mallaiah will head on to Hershey for the first round of the PIAA Class 3A singles tournament on May 24, with an opponent yet to be determined. In 2022, Mallaiah was eliminated by North Allegheny’s Trey Davidson in the first round of the state tournament.

District 2 Class 3A Boys Tennis Singles Championships

Praneel Mallaiah (Abington Heights) def. Michael Hamel (Wilkes-Barre Area) 6-3, 7-5.

Class 3A Semifinals

Praneel Mallaiah (Abington Heights) def. Alex Mullen (Delaware Valley) 6-2, 6-1; Michael Hamel (Wilkes-Barre Area) def. William Arp (Abington Heights) 6-3, 6-2.