Qualifier Choy takes out sixth seed in Easter Bowl

   Sara Choy overcame a terrible start and pulled off a big upset in the Easter Bowl on Tuesday.
   The qualifier from Palo Alto shocked No. 6 seed Taylor Johnson of Redondo Beach 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the girls 18s in Indian Wells.
   Choy trailed 0-5 in the first set in a matchup of 15-year-olds.
   "When I caught up in the first set, I still had momentum going into the second set," Choy, who won the 16s in the USTA National Winter Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz., in January, told Zoo Tennis. "I was feeling pretty confident, even though I lost in the tiebreaker. I knew if I just forgot about what happened in the tiebreaker and treated the new set like a new match, it would be OK for me."
   Another qualifier from Northern California, Darya Possokhova of San Francisco, lost to No. 3 seed Claire Liu of Thousand Oaks 6-0, 6-1. On Sunday, Liu came up short against fellow 15-year-old Kayla Day of Santa Barbara in the final of the USTA International Spring Championships in Carson.
   In the first round of boys 18 singles in the Easter Bowl, No. 5 seed Sam Riffice of Roseville and Paul Barretto of Tiburon advanced, but Austen Huang of Elk Grove lost to qualifier Timothy Sah of San Diego 6-3, 6-4.  
   Riffice was the 18s runner-up in USTA International Spring Championships. Huang won the Winter National boys 18s, and Barretto defeated Huang for the 18s title in the NorCal Junior Sectional Championships in Sacramento last June.
   Four days after falling in the boys 18 doubles final in the International Spring Championships, No. 4 seeds Brian Cernoch of North Bethesda, Md., and Riffice lost to Vasil Kirkov of Tampa, Fla., and Sebastian Korda of Bradenton, Fla., 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the Easter Bowl.
   Korda is the son of Petr Korda, the 1998 Australian Open champion who subsequently tested positive for steroids, was banned and retired.
   No. 9 Ajai Shekhera of Campbell and No. 15 Jenson Brooksby of Carmichael won their opening-round matches in the Easter Bowl boys 16s, and No. 6 Rachel Eason of Union City and No. 14 Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek advanced in the girls 16s.
   Volynets, the 14-year-old runner-up to Jessi Muljat of Sacramento in the International Spring Championships, will face No. 1 seed Sedona Gallagher of Henderson, Nev.
   Muljat, 15, lost to No. 11 Dasha Kourkina of Brooklyn, N.Y., 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Easter Bowl. 
   In the boys 14 doubles final, No. 1 Joshua Rabb of Woodstock, Ga., and Andres Martin of Flowery Branch, Ga., beat No. 2 Stefan Leustian of Mather and Zachery Lim of Fairfield 8-4.
   In the boys 12 singles semifinals, No. 11 Max Fardanesh of Albany edged No. 5 Noelle Andrey Ampong of Downers Grover, Ill., 4-6, 6-2 [10-7]. Fardanesh is scheduled to play No. 1 seed Samuel Landau of Los Angeles today for the title.