Poplar Bluff's Navneet Hundal, left, returns a volley while running away from the net as his doubles partner Anderson Gilberto looks on Saturday during the Poplar Bluff Invitational. (Brad Hurt/DAR)

By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer

Poplar Bluff's Malay Bhatt found an imposing opponent Saturday in Sikeston's Daniel Agung in the singles final of the Poplar Bluff Invitational, as he fell 8-2.

The Mules finished fourth, earning four points, while Cape Central claimed first place with 12 1/2. Sikeston came in second with 8 1/2 points, while Farmington finished third with 6 1/2 and Dexter finished in fifth.

Poplar Bluff's Malay Bhatt returns a volley during the singles championship match of the Poplar Bluff Invitational on Saturday. Bhatt lost to Sikeston's Daniel Agung 8-2. (Malay Bhatt/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

"Everybody played well," Mules coach Charles Harper said of his team. "Nobody was out right off the bat."

Cape Central dominated doubles play as the team of David Berry and Patrick Duffy beat the team of Will LaFoe and Garrett McMillan 8-1 in the final.

Bhatt had little trouble advancing to the final match in singles play, defeating Justin Deere of Sikeston and Andrew Maurer of Farmington, both by 8-0 scores.

However, in his third match, he couldn't keep up with Agung despite winning the first point of the match.

"In my first two matches, I didn't play well at all," Bhatt said. "In the third one, I hit the ball well, I just didn't put it all together."

After losing a lengthy rally on the second point, Bhatt recovered to win the next point before Agung used his strong serve to pull away for the win.

Once he knew his shots weren't where he needed them to be, Bhatt said the match began to get away from him.

"It's kind of like a car without wheels," he said. "I was focused, but I just wasn't hitting the right shots."

Harper said Bhatt showed improvement in his performance against Agung, who beat him earlier in the season 8-1.

"I expected that would be his opponent and he played him better than the last time he faced him," he said. "(Agung) is new to the area and he's a really good player. I think Malay showed today you can keep up with him."

Agung eliminated Poplar Bluff's Davis Wilson 8-0 in the semifinal. Wilson defeated Dexter's Berry Burge 8-0 in his first match of the day.

In one bracket of doubles play, Poplar Bluff's team of Navneet Hundal and Anderson Gilberto won their opening match against Patrick Turpin and Ryan Windham of Dexter to advance to the semifinals, where they lost to Sikeston's Charlie Jones and Stuart Strom.

In the other bracket, the Mules' Kelsey Brown and Chris Drury defeated Dexter's Dusty Potter and Dylon Acevedo in their opener, winning a tiebreaker 7-3. The pair then fell to LaFoe and McMillan 8-3.

Poplar Bluff (1-3) returns to action Monday with a makeup match against Farmington before playing a double-header against Charleston on Thursday.

"We've had three good tournament performances now," Harper said. "We could be doing better, but it's a good bunch of kids."