Ena, Zhalgasbay Capture Doubles Title at ITA Northeast Regional Championships

Thursday, October 15

Philadelphia, Pa.

Columbia

ITA Regionals

Andrew Ena/Damir Zhalgasbay Doubles champions at ITA Northeast Regionals

10/20/2026 2:23:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Duo earns berth to NCAA Doubles Championships in November

PHILADELPHIA — Columbia men's tennis doubles partners Andrew Ena and Damir Zhalgasbay captured the doubles title Tuesday at the ITA Northeast Regional Championships, defeating Penn's Aaron Sandler and Justin Chung in the final. With the win, the duo secured a berth at the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., Nov. 17-22.

Ena and Zhalgasbay capped their championship run with a 6-4, 7-6(2) victory over Penn's Aaron Sandler and Justin Chung in the final Tuesday. This comes on the heels of the two Lions advancing to the singles main draw semifinals.

The Columbia duo won four straight matches to claim the title, starting with an 8-6 win over Fordham's Filip Horak and Dhananjay Karthik Athreya before earning an injury-retirement win over Penn State's Ludwig Hermann and Kyle Chesman in the round of 32.

The pair continued their run with an 8-5 win over Drexel's Tarek Erlewein and William Burridge in the round of 16, then defeated St. John's Taichi Wakamatsu and Armando Sotelo 7-6(4), 6-0 in the quarterfinals. Ena and Zhalgasbay then secured the championship with a straight-sets win over the Quakers pair of Sandler and Chung.

In singles, Ena and Zhalgasbay each reached the semifinals. Ena defeated Fordham's Victor Kimpel, Penn's Shaurya Bharadwaj and St. John's Radomir Tomic before advancing past Penn's Adam Bain in a three-set quarterfinal, 7-6(0), 6-7(7), 7-6(0). He fell to Penn's Nischal Spurling, 6-4, 6-1, in the semifinals.

Zhalgasbay opened with a 6-1, 6-3 win over NJIT's Francisco Guimaraes and continued with victories over Monmouth's Oleksandr Vysochenko and Penn State's David Lindsey. He defeated Delaware's Adam Bojkovic, 6-2, 6-1, in the quarterfinals before falling to Princeton's Landon Ardila, 7-5, 6-3, in the semifinals.

Jung Hee You, Abhishek Thorat and Aditya Govila also advanced to the singles round of 16. You earned two victories, including a three-set comeback against Delaware's Federico Garbero, while Thorat defeated St. John's Sergej Zivkovic and Penn State's Reiya Hattori. Govila recorded wins over Villanova's Jack Sherner and St. Joseph's Santiago Valle-Saenz.

In doubles, Andrew Kotzen and Jordan Chang also reached the quarterfinals, defeating Villanova's Cameron Kruep and Thomas Wakefield and Monmouth's Vysochenko and Luka Sauer before their run ended against Penn's Sandler and Chung.

The Lions will return to action later this week when a few squad members compete at the Ivy League Qualifiers hosted by Princeton. The three-day tournament begins Friday, Oct. 23.

Full Tournament Results
Qualifying Singles - Thursday, Oct. 15

Jordan Chang (COL) def. Armando Sotelo (St. John's), 6-3, 6-1
Gray Kelley (COL) def. Sawyer Severance (Princeton), 6-3, 6-3
Andrew Kotzen (COL) def. James Sclater (Delaware), 6-0, 6-1
Jordan Chang (COL) def. Adrien Ducruet (Temple), 6-4, 6-2
Gray Kelley (COL) def. Julian Forer (Temple), 6-2, 6-2
Andrew Kotzen (COL) def. Tyler Bush (Bucknell), 6-3, 6-1

Singles Main Draw Round of 64 - Friday, Oct. 16

Jung Hee You (COL) def. Vojtech Vales (PENN), 6-2, 6-3
Abhishek Thorat (COL) def. Sergej Zivkovic (St. John's), 6-4, 7(8)-6(6)
Nishcal Spurling (PENN) def. Charlie Valentine (COL), 6-2, 6-3
Thanaphat Boosarawongse (COL) def. Luke Tollenaar (Delaware), 6-2, 6-4
Milan Markovits (Princeton) def. Jordan Chang (COL), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Andrew Ena (COL) def. Victor Kimpel (Fordham), 6-2, 7-5
Venedikt Tsirikidze (St. John's) def. Jakub Katuch (COL) 6-3, 6(2)-7(7), 6-2
Damir Zhalgasbay (COL) def. Francisco Guimaraes (NJIT), 6-1, 6-3
Justin Chung (PENN) def. Gray Kelley (COL) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
Semen Aginskiy (St. John's) def. Shaan Patel (COL), 6-2, 6-2
Aditya Govila (COL) def. Jack Sherner (Villanova), 6-3, 6-3
Callum Markowitz (PENN) def. Andrew Kotzen (COL), 6-4, 6-2

Doubles Main Draw Round of 64 - Friday, Oct. 16

Ernesto Ruy/Oscar Baumgartner (St. Joe's) def. Gray Kelley/Jakub Katuch (COL), 8(7)-7(4)
Federico Garbero/Pere Prat Turro (Delaware) def. Abhishek Thorat/Charlie Valentine (COL), 8(8)-7(6)
Andrew Ena/Damir Zhalgasbay (COL) def. Filip Horak/Dhananjay Karthik Athreya (Ford), 8-6
Andrew Kotzen/Jordan Chang (COL) def. Cameron Kruep/Thomas Wakefield (Villanova), 8-5
Jung Hee You/Tristan Lee (COL) def. Matteus Froberg Dahlin/John Gentek (Delaware), 8-3
Thanaphat Boosarawongse/Aditya Govila (COL) def. William Robinson/Tyler Bush (Bucknell), 8-4

Singles Main Draw Round of 32 - Saturday, Oct. 17

Jung Hee You (COL) def. Federico Garbero (Delaware), 2-6,7-5, 6-1
Abhishek Thorat (COL) def. Reiya Hattori (Penn State), 6-3, 7-5
Adam Bain (Penn) def. Thanaphat Boosarawongse (COL), 6-2, 7-5
Andrew Ena (COL) def. Shaurya Bharadwaj (Penn), 6-1, 6-2
Damir Zhalgasbay (COL) def. Oleksandr Vysochenko (Monmouth), 6-1, 6-4
Aditya Govila (COL) def. Santiago Valle-Saenz (St. Joe's), 6-3, 6-1

Doubles Main Draw Round of 32 - Saturday, Oct. 17

Andrew Ena/Damir Zhalgasbay (COL) def. Ludwig Hermann/Kyle Chesman (Penn State) INJ
Andrew Kotzen/Jordan Chang (COL) def. Oleksandr Vysochenko/Luka Sauer (Monmouth), 8-5
Ricardo Campagnola/Yerassyl (NJIT) def. (Jung Hee You/Tristan Lee (COL), 8-2
Santiago Valle-Saenz/Sehaj Singh Pawar (St. Joe's) def. Thanaphat Boosarawongse/Aditya Govila (COL) 8-4

Singles Main Draw Round of 16 - Sunday, Oct. 18

Yerassyle Bakhtiyar (NJIT) def. Jung Hee You (COL), 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
Nischal Spurling (Penn) def. Abhishek Thorat (COL), 6-3, 6-2
Andrew Ena (COL) def. Radomir Tomic (St. John's), 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
Damir Zhalgasbay (COL) def. David Lindsey (Penn State), 6-3, 6-2
Landon Ardila (Princeton) def. Aditya Govila (COL), 6-3, 6-0

Doubles Main Draw Round of 16 - Sunday Oct. 18

Andrew Ena/Damir Zhalgasbay (COL) def. Tarek Erlewein/William Burridge (Drexel), 8-5
Andrew Kotzen/Jordan Chang (COL) def. Eyal Shyovitz/David Lindsay (Penn State), 8-3

Singles Main Draw Quarterfinals - Sunday, Oct. 18

Andrew Ena (COL) def. Adam Bain (Penn), 7(7)-6(0), 6(4)-7(7), 7(7)-6(0)
Damir Zhalgasbay (COL) def. Adam Bojkovic (Delaware), 6-2, 6-1

Doubles Main Draw Quarterfinals - Monday, Oct. 19

Andrew Ena/Damir Zhalgasbay (COL) def. Taichi Wakamatsu/Armando Sotelo (St. John's), 7(7)-6(4), 6-0
Aaron Sandler/Justin Chung (Penn) def. Andrew Kotzen/Jordan Chang (COL), 7(7)-6(4), 6-3

Singles Main Draw Semifinals - Monday, Oct. 19

Nischal Spurling (Penn) def. Andrew Ena (COL), 6-4, 6-1
Landon Ardila (Princeton) def. Damir Zhalgasbay (COL), 7-5, 6-3

Doubles Main Draw Final - Tuesday, Oct. 20

Andrew Ena/Damir Zhalgasbay (COL) def. Aaron Sandler/Justin Chung (Penn), 6-4, 7(7)-6(2)

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