Tennis: Olivia Barberian and Kyle Byrd Win Gold at AYF Olympics

By Violet Gavoor

This year’s tennis competition was held on Friday morning at the beautiful picturesque facilities of Trinity Washington University located in Washington, D.C. proper about four miles from the headquarters hotel, the Washington Hilton. AYF Governing Body representative, Richie Sarajian, who was to be the overseer for the event was there early and had his seeding prepared and ready for the participants when they arrived. The Washington Olympic Committee chairman, Hratch Najarian, was also present to make sure everything got started on the right foot and that all planned arrangements were in place.

Players were required to be on site at 9 a.m. ready to play, and they were on the courts by 9:15, warming up for their respective first round matches, with actual competition beginning by 9:30 a.m.

Since there were six women entered in the tennis competition, the preliminary rounds filled three courts and made it possible for the girls’ semi-finals to get underway before 11 a.m. Olivia Barberian (North Andover) faced Adi Asadoorian (Detroit), with Barberian prevailing. In the second semi-final match, Stephanie Dolik (Detroit) played Kenar Charchaflian (Worcester), with Dolik winning. Now the field was set for the gold and silver with Barberian vs. Dolik, a repeat match of a few years ago.

Kenar Charchaflian and Adi Asadoorian would battle for third place and the bronze medal. They played a 10-game pro set, with Charchaflian being the stronger player and winning third place and the bronze medal.

Barberian and Dolik played a full best of three sets. Both ladies used their talents to the fullest with strong ground strokes and tricky drop shots and lobs. In the end, after battling back and forth, Olivia Barberian won in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) and took the gold.

Olivia is a sophomore at Northern Essex Community College in Massachusetts. She has not been able to play team tennis since her high school days at Salem High School in New Hampshire. This presented no handicap for Olivia, as she doesn’t seem to have missed a beat. Olivia has been playing tennis since she was 12 years old. She was the silver medalist last year in Boston and is looking forward to being in Detroit next year to defend her gold medal. She will be joined by younger sister, Lucille, who will be of AYF age next year.

Stephanie Dolik (Detroit) is a multi-talented athlete, equally talented in tennis and swimming, and helped her team in the swimming relays and individual events. She received her undergraduate degree from St. Mary’s of Notre Dame, and is currently living and working in New York City and working towards a master’s degree. Stephanie takes after her mother, Jill (Tosoian) Dolik, who participated in the AYF Olympics during the 1970’s, reaching the level of Women’s All-time High Scorer and being named Olympics Queen.

The boys’ semi-finals got underway around noon. The first match featured Jason Pjojian (Providence) and Hovig Charchaflian (Worcester), with Charchaflian prevailing. The second match was between Haig Chahinian (Toronto) and Kyle Byrd (Providence), with Byrd winning.

This set the field for the final round for the gold, silver, and bronze medals. Jason Pjojian and Haig Chahinian battled for the bronze medal in a 10-game pro set, with Haig Chahinian of Toronto ultimately winning the bronze.

The men’s final proved to be an exciting dual between Byrd and Charchaflian. This was a grueling, hard-hitting best of three sets match that was played in the heat of the day. These two stalwarts battled the heat almost as much as they competed against each other. Both displayed an amazing show of agility in their ability to reach well-placed volleys and powerful ground shots. The first set was decided by a tiebreak, which Charchaflian won. The second set was won by Byrd, 6-2.

The third and deciding set began well into the second hour of play. Both players took a well deserved five-minute water and wet towel break. Byrd jumped out to an early two-game lead with both players showing signs of heat and physical exhaustion. Charchaflian fought back to a score of 2-5 and Byrd took the last game, after almost three hours of play, to win the gold.

But the day was not over for Kyle Bird. He had to catch the 4:20 p.m. bus back to the hotel and get to the swimming venue where he was competing. He cooled down and refreshed himself en route to the pool.