EVERETT – These days, it’s nearly impossible to find a true original.
Physical quirks that can make a high school athlete unique evaporate as more and more pre-teens and teenagers get private, year-round sports instruction. Over the years, so-called bad habits give way to cookie-cutter technique.
As in a world of clones, everyone starts to look exactly the same.
But that’s why the perfectly imperfect Chandi Sun is so refreshing.
Sun (her first name is pronounced SHAN-dee), a senior girls tennis player at Cascade High, has a herky-jerky serve and an unorthodox grip that might make tennis purists cringe. A few years ago Jennifer Kink, Cascade’s head coach, tried to change Sun’s unusual approach. But eventually, Kink came to admire it.
Michael O’Leary / The Herald
“It works for her. It’s her own unique style,” Kink said of Sun, who has never had a private lesson, unlike most of her top prep rivals.
Sun’s odd-but-effective technique has produced undeniably positive results, including a 13-0 record and eight straight-sets victories through last week. She won a Western Conference North Division singles championship as a junior and reached the Class 4A district tournament the last two seasons. This month she hopes to become the first Cascade girls singles player to advance to state since Jessica Radford in 1995 and the first Wesco North player to get there since 2002 (Oak Harbor’s Theresa Black).
“She has a legitimate shot, she really does,” said Kink, Cascade’s seventh-year head coach. “She knows what it’s gonna take now. She’s been so close.”
Last year Sun got tantalizingly close. She placed fourth at districts, where just the top three qualified for state. But two of those state participants graduated (German exchange student Verena Sackl of Shorewood and Everett’s Jackie Mills). Despite the presence of talented Wesco South players like returning state qualifier Lauren Summers of Meadowdale, Sun is among the favorites to go to the WIAA championships May 26-27 in Vancouver.
“I want to be able to go to state this year,” said Sun, who relies on precise shot placement and an improved second serve. Asked what it will take to break new ground, she said “a lot of practice, and I just have to stay on top of my game.”
Sun, the daughter of Cambodian immigrants who in the 1970s fled the harsh rule of communist leader Pol Pot, has ample mental toughness.
“She won’t let up,” Kink said. “If she’s gonna get beat, it’s gonna be because somebody was better than her on that day.”
“She never has a negative body language with her racket (and) never has her head down,” Kink said of Sun’s court demeanor. “You don’t know if you’ve gotten to her or not.”
Sun, the youngest of five sisters who all played tennis at Cascade, got serious about tennis in the eighth grade and developed her distinctive style, one that she’s quite proud of: “I like to do my own thing, and it works for me.”
Sun’s serve, which she dubs “crazy,” includes a quirky leg kick and a strange swing angle that creates diagonal spin. Most serves are flat or have some degree of top- or backspin.
“It’s not, like, by the rulebook. … Her serve is original. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be very hard, but it’s hard, it’s accurate and it makes you move,” said Tara Naylor, Cascade’s No. 2 singles player.
Sun’s wacky style turns heads, but the key to her success is desire, said Stacy Huynh, Cascade’s No. 3 singles player and a team co-captain with Sun:
“She doesn’t give up. She pretty much plays her heart out.”
If Sun finally gets to state, expect more of the same from the girl with the peculiar game.
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