Three National Capital Squash juniors reached the quarterfinals in the US SQUASH Junior Silver Squash Championships that ended Sunday, April 14. Nghi Nguyen played up an age division and recorded the highest finish, reaching the GU19 semifinals where she lost a tightly contested four game match.
Isabel Young, who recently aged out of GU15, had an impressive run, reaching the GU17 quarterfinals in a five game thriller, clinching the final game 15-13! She then narrowly missed reaching the semis, falling in five tough games.
Theo Mendez lost a heart breaker of a match in the round of 16, losing 11-9 in the fifth to the eventual semifinalist. Theo then went on to win the consolations in a very strong 32-player BU17 field.
Zach Najera, who also recently aged up into BU17, played impressively, defeating a higher ranked player from California in the first round. He … Continue Reading ››
Congratulations to Jose Calderon and Ben Smith, who won the Open 5.5 and Open 4.5 skill level divisions at the national championships, which were held in Baltimore April 5-7. Patrick Harris also reached the finals of the Open 5.0, where he lost a close three game match to the #1 seed.
Jose beat Antoine Poulain of Chicago in the four game final. Ben rallied from a 2-1 deficit to Boston's Girish Venkataramani on the way to an 11-9 victory in the fifth game.
Other Highlights:
Ben Rind -- Open 5.0 Consolation Winner
Nghi Nguyen -- Women's 4.0 Consolation Winner
Ben Hoefs -- Open 5.5 Consolation Finals
Abir Ray -- Open 4.5 Consolation Finals
Isabel Young -- Women's 4.0 Consolation Finals
Jahangir Naseem -- Open 6.0, Winner Consol Playoff
Carole Grunberg won the Women's 55+ and also won the consolation finals in the Women's 50+ division. She was joined by a strong group of National Capital players who competed last month at the Masters Championships in Stamford CT.
Congratulations to the following players who reached the quarterfinals or won the consolations in their age division:
Carole Grunberg -- Women 55+ Winner
Women 50+ Consolation Winner
Bryce Harding -- Men 50+ quarter-finalist
Terry Hindermann -- Men 50+ quarter-finalist
Bruce Simons-Morton -- Men 65+ Consolation Winner
Carole had a tough five game match in the semifinals and then won another five game marathon match where she took game five by a 13-11 score to clinch the win.
Bruce fell in the quarterfinals in a tight three game match to the eventual winner.
This tournament is great fun, so if you are 35+ and haven't tried it yet, consider entering next year.
Competing in this event is a major honor for any junior squash player -- it shows the player has reached the top 32 in his age group in the USA. Congratulations to Cameron Bahadori and Kira Keating, who qualified in the BU19 and GU19 divisions.
Kira Keating, who recently aged up into the GU19, finished 13-16th and is currently ranked #12 in the US. Cameron is the #1 ranked NCS junior boy and #40 in the US.
NCS juniors played well the first weekend this month, taking tournament victories in three out of four divisions, by beating back players from Baltimore, Richmond and Charlottesville.
In BU19, Caden Petersmeyer cruised to victory, dropping just one game, in the final, to record his first tournament win. Ian Brown played up an age division and took third place.
Nilay Neelaveni played up an age division into BU15, and battled back from a 2-0 deficit in the semifinal to win in five, before falling in the final in a match that included two tiebreaker games. Michael Lovegrove took third.
Charlie Thomas won all three of his matches without dropping a game to clinch his second impressive tournament win this season in BU11.
Shalika Neelaveni played up an age division and won all her matches by 3-0 scores to clinch the title in GU15, … Continue Reading ››
NCS players won a number of great victories at this tournament, played in February at the Sports Club/LA in Washington DC. Unseeded Ryan Lovallo won in BU15 in a deep 12-player field with competitors from five states and DC. Michael Lovegrove, also unseeded, came back from a 2-1 deficit to beat the #1 seed 13-11 in the fifth. He then took third place. Jeremy Barnes played up a division and won BU19 without dropping a game.
Sophia Yazigi win GU15, winning all her matches 3-0 on the way to her first tournament victory. Anna Wasserman played in her first ever tournament in GU19, and clinched the deciding match in five games to secure the win.
Bryan Keating, a 2010 graduate of The Potomac School from Chevy Chase, MD, was named the men's College Squash Player of the Week in February. Now a junior at Cornell University, Keating won the honor for delivering the deciding fifth team match win for Cornell over previously undefeated and #1 ranked Princeton. It was just the second time Cornell had ever defeated Princeton and it was the first home victory for the Big Red.
At the team national championships two weeks later, Bryan was one of just three players in the top division to win all his matches by 3-0 scores. At the championship Bryan also received one of the College Squash Association's Scholar Athlete Awards. In April, he was named co-captain of the team for the coming season and received the men's team … Continue Reading ››
Daily Squash Report led with this story: "It took the longest recorded squash match for more than 30 years to decide the Squash Revolution National Capital Open Presented by Oliver title when Canadian Shawn Delierre beat England's Adrian Waller in two hours and 37 minutes, surviving a battle which went the full distance and featured four tie-break games. The fourth game of the climax of the PSA World Tour Challenger 15 event in Washington DC alone lasted 44 minutes!"
The tournament was played at regional clubs, including Chevy Chase Athletic Club, which hosted the final, Results The Gym, Worldgate Sport & Health, Sports Club/LA, Potomac Squash Club, Potomac School, Bare Hills Athletic Club and Meadow Mill Athletic Club.
