![“I wasn't discouraged by some of the obstacles we faced. I learned a lot from the leadership. I found that different people need different ways of receiving feedback — you can't [just] tell them to do something and expect the best. [Some] people needed more incentive. A large part of my role was to figure out what worked for everyone and to figure out how to lead all these separate individuals as a team,” Suhana Bhandare (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SuhanaBhandare_JasmineHansra-1-1200x798.jpg)
![“This is actually from Randy Pausch Randy P. Brick: ‘Walls are there for a reason. You have to show how much you want to overcome them.’ You have to show how much you want something. That's what I've always been able to do with tennis, Link Crew and getting that internship [with Kushy Baby]. It’s important pushing through that — getting around that brick wall, climbing over it or clawing through it,” Yash Sachdeva (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/YashSachdeva_RamBatchu-copy-1200x1002.jpg)
![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Twelve competitors played in six elimination matches as the second day of the Harker Clash Royale Tournament continued in the Nichols auditorium on Friday.
ASB Campus Life Committee members Samaara Patil (11), Dyuthi Vallamsetty (10) and Sri Kataru (9) organized the event and managed all matches.
“The engagement and excitement from the participants make me glad that we put the tournament together,” Samaara said. “I’m excited to continue the tournament. It’s been fun and a really refreshing event, especially as we enter the spring, which is usually a very busy and hectic time for everyone in their academic schedule.”
The first match pitted Alejandro Cheline (12) against Ernie Singh (9), who joined the tournament as a replacement for Leo Zhang (11) on Wednesday. Alejandro built a deck centered around fast-paced pressure using Ram Rider and Bandit, while Ernie relied on his Mega Knight and Goblin Demolisher.
As the game extended into overtime because neither player knocked down their opponent’s towers, both shifted into spell-cycling the opposing tower with Fireball and Rocket. Alejandro’s Bandit darted onto Ernie’s tower, while Ernie’s Goblin Destroyer barreled into Alejandro’s tower, keeping the game even. Ernie briefly took the lead with Rocket damage, but Alejandro prevailed after Ernie allowed a Ram Rider slip through his defense.
Fifth seed Edmund Wang (10), who played on his laptop using an iPhone simulator app, battled Leo Hoffmann (9) in the second match. Leo neglected to draft a building card, and Edmund exploited this weakness by constantly sending Hog Rider to chip away at Leo’s tower. Edmund broke through with a charging Prince to take down Leo’s tower just one minute into the game.
As Leo tried to mount an offensive push, Edmund redirected his focus to Leo’s other tower and demolished it. Edmund continued to showboat by frequently using the Kissing Goblin and Yawning Princess emotes while he defended. Leo admitted defeat by wasting his freeze spell to activate Edmund’s king tower.
Ninth seed Patrick Jiang (9) faced 16th seed Pedro Castro III (11) in the third match. Patrick selected the Dagger Duchess, which uses up all its ammunition in a burst, to man his defense towers. Pedro opted for the conventional Princess Tower, which shoots consistently.
Patrick opened with a pair of Wall Breakers, which Pedro let connect with his tower to conserve elixir. Pedro then amassed an offensive consisting of the Mega Knight, Witch and Ice Wizard, which Patrick tried to redirect by placing swarm troops like Spear Goblins far from his tower. However, Patrick’s towers quickly ran out of ammunition. Despite audience members shouting defensive plays to Patrick, Pedro’s push converged upon Patrick’s tower and destroyed it with a minute and 30 seconds left in the match.
“I’m a better player in the second half of games because I’m able to analyze and see what kind of cards they have and see their playstyle,” Pedro said. “So, going into the second half after I took the tower, I knew that I was going to win the game.”
10th seed Gary Xu (10) played fourth seed Ryan Pham (11) next. He defended offensive attacks from Ryan’s Goblin Giant and countered with a Bowler and a Graveyard-Freeze combination, dealing 1400 damage to Ryan’s tower before the one-minute mark. After entering the double elixir period, Ryan struggled to keep up with Gary’s armies of Skeletons and repeated assaults with Graveyard and Freeze, eventually losing his tower.
“I was just trying to play it how I normally play, and just stay calm,” Ryan said. “When I made a misplay, I felt stressed, but I just acknowledged that I made a mistake and kept going because it’s not really high stakes — it’s just playing Clash Royale.”
In the fifth match, 11th seed William Jiang (11) went up against 17th seed Yimo Xie (10). The two players repeatedly spammed emotes while drafting cards to provoke each other. William began with a trio of Rascals, and Yimo countered with a Mother Witch and Electro Giant. William defended with the high-damage Lumberjack before floating a Balloon onto Yimo’s right tower to take it down. Yimo mistimed a Fireball spell, allowing William to clinch his victory with a reviving Phoenix card and a Bandit.
Randy Hui (9) faced Andy He (9), both of whom volunteered from the audience after Jake Yiu (10) and Kyle Li (9) failed to show, in the final match. Andy seized an early lead by dispatching Barbarians and a Mega Knight into Randy’s tower, which Randy failed to defend with his Inferno Dragon.
A minute into the match, Andy depleted Randy’s king tower to 365 HP through repeated Barbarian attacks and stopped pushing on offense to toy with Randy. In response, Randy repetitively deployed the Elixir Golem and Freeze spells. Nevertheless, Andy ultimately won the match by using his Poison Spell on Randy’s king tower.
Alejandro, Aman Chandra (12), Edmund, Viraaj Burli (9), Andy, Pedro, William and Gary will play in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the tournament on Feb. 2.
