SURVIVOR TOLEDO

How we don’t attract more DAC members to play this event is a mystery to me. Just one hour away, this tournament is designed – and advertised – as a ‘biathlon’. Play hard (squash that is) and drink harder. Like our tournament, their keg is an endless well. Unlike our tournament, they hire models to serve you that beer. As you can see from the photos, Justin Winkelman had a difficult time trying to stay away from them. Their ‘tag-team’ move was a popular strategy and they did an excellent job making sure not many of the patrons ever saw the bottom of their beer cups.

Three DAC members made the journey. Keep in mind that the Toledo courts are 2 and a half feet narrower than ours, same length, but the ‘T’ is closer to the back wall. The angles that you are accustomed to are now completely off kilter. Justin played the D event. He won his first round match 3-1 on Friday night in solid fashion, before succumbing 3-0 in his second round on Saturday. The games of that match were quite close, and Justin is fully aware that without some of his mistimed errors, the outcome could have been very different.

Robert Welch, also in the D event, lost his first round 3-0 – to a young girl barely in her teens. Now before we all start ribbing him for all eternity, we found out later that the girl was the pro’s daughter and grew up on these shoe-box courts and knew the angles very well. It turned out to be a tough draw for Rob! However, Rob went on the win the consolation event with a 3-0 thrashing of his opponent in the final.

Now everybody stand up and applaud the man of the hour – Anthony Fracchia! (Pictured left in red.) Guts, determination, a few desperate dives, he put his body in the line as he collected at least 5 squash balls in the backside (one hitting his cheek!), he battled muscle soreness, the referees, and even though he came out the other end wounded and bloodied, he is a true Toledo Tournament survivor as he won the C division in spectacular fashion. None of his matches were easy. He won 3-1 in his first match, 3-1 in his second, 3-2 in the semi final on Sunday morning in an extremely tight match that took an hour, and then he still managed to back it up with a 3-1 victory in the final! Congratulations Anthony! Make sure you see Tiffany for a massage…

On a personal level, I won the Open event winning all my matches 3-0. I played Ian Sly from Cleveland in the final in a repeat of the 2009 event where I just got through 3-2. This year, I was determined to keep the pressure on him and remain focused. Being a handy doubles player, Ian can hit the ball very hard and uses the angles smartly, but I managed to keep the ball tight enough to stop him from doing any real damage.

As usual, the Toledo Club looked after everybody exceptionally well. The Saturday night party in the club had a live band playing songs from the 70’s and 80’s, and the drinking went on until about 4am (as far as I know…!) Seriously, for a get-away squash weekend that could not be easier to get to, the Toledo Classic a must-do. I suggest you mark it on your calendars for 2011 (last weekend in February) and make a genuine effort to enter it. (Photo: Justin, me and Robert Welch)