North junior repeats as Republic Boys Tennis Player of Year – The Republic News

Hank Lin accelerated his tennis play to new levels this season.

The Columbus North junior was one of the top high school tennis players in the state. It cultivated into a runner-up finish as an individual, which was his only loss of the season. Lin’s play on the court has netted him The Republic Boys Tennis Player of the Year honors for the second consecutive year.

Lin said he practices tennis four or five times during the week in the winter and spring months and plays every day in the summer. Previously, Lin admitted he was a passive player and waited for his opponent to make the mistakes. That changed in the past offseason, when he worked on his volleys, serving the ball in and finishing off the points.

It paid off. On the court, Lin dominated through the competition, finishing 22-1 at No. 1 singles. He ran into a buzzsaw when he fell to North Central senior Alex Antonopolous in the state singles final.

“I’m definitely proud of how I played this year during the season and postseason,” Lin said. “There’s definitely room for improvement, especially in that last match. I didn’t play as good, but it’s all right, I’ll bounce back next year.”

Lin was honored with many postseason awards. He was named First-Team All-State and All-District 8 in singles. He also was named Most Valuable Player at the team banquet earlier this month and was named All-Conference Indiana.

Lin had the talent to be one of the top players in the state soon after he started picking up a racket. He comes from a family of tennis players. His two older brothers, Kevin and Nathan, were also former Bull Dogs and Republic Boys Tennis Players of the Year. When North coach Kendal Hammel saw Hank Lin’s potential at a young age, it became hardly a surprise to him to watch Lin become one of the top tennis players in the state.

“We could see then he was going to be a special player. His time was coming, and he was working his way up behind Nathan for a year or two, and then stepping in and being that role person at No. 1 singles,” Hammel said. “There was not a doubt. He has put so much time, so much work, so much effort into his tennis game on the court, off the court and on his own in lessons and clinics and tournaments and just going out playing and hitting with guys. He has a very good, strong work ethic, and he’s got the mental toughness to follow that up behind. This was no surprise. We knew he was going to be right there.”

Lin played a big part in helping North to a 24-2 season, falling to Carmel in the state championship match. Lin’s teammates at No. 1 doubles, Anvay Atram and Amrit Kar, were runners-up in the state doubles tournament.

Even though Lin was proud of his season, he wasn’t satisfied. The loss to Antonopolous will only fuel Lin for next year. He could be considered the favorite for the state singles title next year, as well.

“I’m definitely hungry for more,” Lin said. “There’s definitely a lot of tough competition coming in, I feel like. I’ll be ready for them. I’ll put in more work than I did this year.”

The Republic All-Area Boys Tennis team:

Hank Lin, Columbus North: The junior went 22-1 at No. 1 singles and was state singles runner-up.

Anvay Atram, Columbus North: The senior went 28-2 at No. 1 doubles and was state doubles runner-up.

Amrit Kar, Columbus North: The senior went 29-2 at No. 1 doubles and was state doubles runner-up.

Parth Shah, Columbus North: The junior went 22-7 at No. 2 and No. 1 singles.

Austin Clark, Columbus North: The senior went 20-9 at No. 3 and No. 2 singles.

Michael Crossman, Columbus North: The junior went 23-5 at No. 2 doubles.

Yoki Murabayashi, Columbus North: The junior went 24-5 at No. 2 doubles.

Parker Bales, Jennings County: The sophomore went 18-4 at No. 1 singles and advanced in the singles tournament.

Erik Takahashi, Columbus East: The senior went 8-15 at No. 1 singles.

Jentzen Bechtel, Hauser: The junior went 7-6 at No. 1 doubles and advanced in the doubles tournament.

Kameron Blair, Hauser: The sophomore went 7-6 at No. 1 doubles and advanced in the doubles tournament.

Honorable mention

Brown County: Jax Burt, Jon Kirchhofer, Jack Sichting. Columbus East: Brady Redelman. Columbus North: Teddy Littrell. Edinburgh: Austin Brockman. Hauser: Caleb Wallace. Jennings County: Ryan Schuck, Ty Zohrlaut. Trinity Lutheran: Soloman Hall.