The Central tennis team has a top-two as good as any in the Ozarks. They have a USTA ranking of top five in the state. “They’re two of the best I’ve ever seen,” said Central head coach Donita Cox, “and I’ve seen a lot of players.”
The Bulldogs are headlined by number one tennis player Josh Kim and number two Raghav Bansal. Like so many good athletes, these two have reached their current level through relentless dedication. “They’re here basically seven days a week,” she said.
The two played at the Cooper Tennis complex since they were seven and eight years old. Last week, their latest trip to Cooper brought them a conference title. “We’re hoping for district next and then state,” said Cox.
It’s the first year Josh, a sophomore, and Raghav, a junior, are playing on a team and they’re enjoying the comradery.
“We’ve practiced with each other, we’ve played with each other,” said Raghav. “We already have the chemistry and we’re just putting it on the court now.”
As doubles partners, they’re almost unbeatable. “I just love how amazing Raghav’s serve is and I get to play at the net,” said Josh.
But for Coach Donita Cox, there’s something else she tries to provide for them. “Did you get my number two to laugh?” she asked. Number two is Raghav, and Josh was able to help with that.
After Raghav was informed that Josh knew he was lactose intolerant, he laughed, “Yeah that’s pretty new information to everyone at school.”
“I try every day to make him smile,” said Cox. “No matter what I have to do. Sometimes you just have to get some levity.”
And as they figure out what their tennis futures hold. “I want to play Division One,” said Josh.
“I’m not sure about college tennis yet,” said Raghav. “We’ll see depending on if I get any offers.”
Just maybe, they’ll laugh all the way to some hardware at the state tournament while they figure that part out.
