FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Nathan Smith and Ben Stewart kept the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 doubles title in Poplar Bluff.
The Mules beat Cape Central's Spencer Kidd and Bennett Kidd in the championship match Thursday 6-3, 6-2 while Poplar Bluff's Humza Siddiqui advance to the sectional tournament for a second straight year by placing second in singles.
Siddiqui fell in the championship match for a second straight year, again losing to Farmington's Alex England, 6-4, 6-0.
"The two seniors are great friends with quite a back-and-forth history," Mules coach Charles Harper said of Siddiqui and England.
"Unfortunately, this one didn't go Humza's way. He definitely wanted a different result his last year but he will still have sectional to look forward to."
Trenton Nepean placed third in singles for Poplar Bluff.
The Mules will play at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Farmington in the sectional against the qualifiers from District 2. The winners advance to the state tournament in Springfield.
Last year the Mules took the top two doubles spots with Peyton Bradley and Eduardo Martinez winning the title.
Stewart and Smith continued Poplar Bluff's hold on the doubles title with three convincing wins Thursday, improving to 18-3 this spring.
"They have really come together well and continue to improve," Harper said. "I think they will compete well next week."
As the top seeds, Stewart and Smith had a bye into the quarter where they beat Cape Central's Zach Brown and Justin Nguyen 6-3, 6-2. After beating Oakville's No. 2 doubles 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinal, they took the first set of the final and the first three games in the second before the Tigers got within 3-2.
Stewart, a sophomore, and Smith, a senior, closed out the match by winning three straight games.
"Served well, played net well and covered the court together very well," Harper said.
Siddiqui earned the top seed in singles and took the quarterfinal 6-1, 6-4 against Oakville's David Knickmeyer before beating Farmington's Drew Adams 6-0, 6-0.
"He was serving well there, which did not continue into the final," Harper said.
Siddiqui opened the final against England with a pair of service breaks to jump ahead 4-0. England then broke Siddiqui's serve twice, the second after a deuce point before tying the match after the two traded multiple deuce points to hold serve.
England took the next two games for the first-set win and continued the run into the second.
"They had a lot of back-and-forth but Humza's serve and net play was not working as well as usual," Harper said.
Siddiqui and England split eight matches over the last four years with the Poplar Bluff senior winning twice this season -- 8-1 and 8-5 --while two more matches were stopped before their completion.
Last year in the district final, England won in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
The loss Thursday was Siddiqui's first to a Missouri player this spring in singles play. He's now 18-2 with the other loss to a player in Oklahoma at the Springfield Invitational.
Nepean, a senior, bounced back from a 6-2, 6-4 loss to England in the semifinal. He improved to 12-5 this spring after beating Adams 6-0, 6-2 and winning his quarterfinal 6-1, 6-0 over Cape Central's Luke Mayes.
"He was decisive in his third place match to win that medal," Harper said.
Poplar Bluff's No. 2 doubles of junior Adeesh Mishra and sophomore Brett Keele lost to the second-seeded pair in three sets.
After beating Mehlville's No. 2 pair in three sets, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2, Mishra and Keele took Oakville to a third set before losing 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. The Tigers then lost a third-set tiebreaker to Cape Central in the semifinal before taking third.
Poplar Bluff won the team district title Wednesday to advance to the playoffs for a second straight year. The Mules (9-1) play at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 20 at Lindbergh (13-0). The winner advances to play at 2 p.m. at the winner between Chaminade (14-6) and Marquette (16-1) in the quarterfinal.
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CORRECTION
A story which appeared in the Wednesday edition incorrectly stated Siddiqui's career record in singles play. It is now 56-17. The DAR regrets the error.