Forget about Vinko Bogataj, the man whose horrific 1970 ski-jump crash opened ABC's Wide World of Sports each week for years. If you're looking for a modern-day "the agony of defeat," try the New York State Public High School Athletic Association boys tennis finals on for size.
Playing in Saturday's final at the the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., Eastchester senior Taiyo Hamanaka led 7-6, 5-1 and held a match point for the championship ... only to lose the tournament in a literal and figurative painful fashion.
Facing Webster Schroeder sophomore Matt Gamble, Hamanaka started suffering cramps in his left thigh at 5-1 in the second set and required medical attention. After play resumed, Hamanaka -- who finished second and third in the previous two state tournaments -- held a match point when trouble struck again as the left-thigh cramp evolved into pain and muscle spasms throughout his body.
Gamble, a quarterfinalist last year, won the game to pull within 5-2 and was leading 15-love when Hamanaka collapsed to the court a final time. Hamanaka was not able to continue and forfeited the match and tournament championship. Though an ambulance was summoned, it did not arrive before the player left with his mother more than half an hour later.
Joe Abruzzo, the certified athletic trainer hired by the NYSPHSAA for the tournament, attributed Hamanaka's injuries to dehydration.
"We couldn't treat (Hamanaka) twice, as according to the rules, so he had to be retired for the match," Abruzzo told The Journal News. "What it looks like is that he didn't have enough fluids. He was dehydrated and it caught up to him."
Even in defeat, Hamanaka saw positives in his final match of the two-day tournament.
"I think that was one of the best matches I played this year," Hamanaka told the paper. "When I was serving at 4-1, my left thigh was hurting me a little bit. I didn't want (Gamble) to see I was hurting."
