LA CRÈME DE LA SINGLES CRÈME

2022 DAC Club Championships

Officially, it’s the end of the season. Awards Dividend night doesn’t just celebrate the winners of the club championships, but in reality rejoices the past 8 months of leagues and tournaments we have all endured and enjoyed, experienced both wins and losses, made new friends and strengthened current relationships, guzzled a few beers, and hopefully have felt like the DAC is your second home. We’ve had a pretty respectable run – The Pro Squash Tournament in October featuring (then) world #2 Nouran Gohar from Egypt who is now world #1, the Farris Cup, the DAC Squash Classic, the McQueenie Cup… just to list a few. The cherry on top is the club championships, so let’s suckle on its sweetness and explore the results!

Here is Part 2… Singles…

2.5… Joe Schmidt was the number one seeded player and Joe Schmidt won this category. But he was very close to not even reaching the semifinal. He played 4 matches, won three of them 3-0. His second-round match, however, was an absolute crackerjack of a contest against Todd Szymczak. We don’t get too many results like this one, and here is when we all wish that both players could advance to the next round as neither deserve to lose. Or, (and no offense to anyone else in the draw) this would have been an sensational final. Joe ended up winning 16-14 in the 5^th, one for the ages. On the bottom half of the draw, we had some tight results, but also three defaults for various unfortunate / unavoidable reasons, which may or may not have influenced the outcomes. Scott Wloszek is a new player to the DAC squash family – so new in fact, that I would probably struggle to recognize him if he walked into my office (as terrible as that sounds!) Scott reached the final with a couple of 3-1 wins along the way, but couldn’t quite keep up with Joe. It’s Scott’s first season and already he has an impressive win / loss record (16 and 4). Quick learner apparently! The 2.5 category was littered with 3-2 results, in fact of the 21 players in the draw, we only had five 3-0 scores.

3.0…  “Boo Yah!” I bet you can’t guess who won this category? It’s a mystery I will leave until the end… “Boo Yah!” Before I get there, I would like to congratulate the first finalist, Eric Corrado. Eric only started playing 4 months ago and somehow, someway, is defying the odds and winning every match he plays. “Boo Yah!” A couple of solid wins to start his 3-0 campaign, Eric beat Daniel Dusina in 5 and then Will Markley 3-0, then only dropped one game more in the next 2 matches to get to the final. “Boo Yah!” Meeting him there was Mr. “Boo Yah!” himself, Dewey Steffen – collector of rare club championship trophies covering a broad array of sports, owner of the world’s biggest mantle piece above a fireplace, moderator of countless social media sites. “Boo Yah!” Dewey, to be fair, does practice hard on his game and he has been regularly on court with Stu, working on his trash talking amongst other things! Not that he needed it for the final. “Boo Yah!” A clinical display, Dewey showed a little too much power and consistency and managed to hand Eric his first official “Boo Yah!”  and loss on a squash court. He now must step up to at least the 3.5. Maybe even the 4.0… depends on how many times I hear “Boo Yah!” between now and then.

3.5… The biggest of all the draws, we had 26 players. That meant 25 matches. Of those 25 matches, only three of them were 3-0. Three. That’s crazy. As crazy as finding out that the blob of toothpaste that sits on your toothbrush is called a ‘nurdle’… (I am going to attempt to use that word in a sentence next week.) Anyway, the bracket was competitive is my point. So, neither of the finalists had a stress-free run. Jordan Dean’s greatest threat was in his first match against Mike Parker. Never underestimate the wiliness of an experienced Brit. Mike jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Jordan could get the motor running to full capacity where he then pounded out the next 3 games to win in five. A more comfortable style to counter for Jordan in his second match, and then he wrestled through the quarters and semis in 4 games. His finals opponent would be Matt Wilson. Getting his money’s worth, Matt seems to enjoy the agony of running around a squash court a lot more than is actually necessary. If he could run out the door, up the carpark and back again between shots, he would. Matt had two 5-setters to reach the final – one against Kevin Thomas in the quarters and other against Evan Moore in the semis. Pretty sure fitness played a major role on both accounts. In a bold mind-games move, Jordan skipped out of town for a few days to delay the match for some secret sauce training. “Where?”, you ask… We don’t know. It’s a secret. Did it work? Time will tell, he’s still getting in his final reps. (Jump forward a week and a half...) Jordan was ready. Matt was also ready. Ready to run for another 5 games. The secret training almost worked, but who can stop the Wilson juggernaut? Especially if it goes to 5 - as this did. In typical Wilson fashion, Matt pulled out the 3-2 victory, his 11th straight match (win) that wasn't a straight set victory!

4.0… I had never heard of Sean Abelarde before the DAC Squash Classic. He had been a member for a week, and I was told that he’d probably, maybe, potentially be competitive in the 3.5 division. So in he went, and voila! What do you know! He ended up winning it. Straight into the 4.0 for the club champs, then. That’ll make him sweat, we predicted. Now of course, we all know what happens when one ‘assumes’. Evidently, Sean isn’t too shabby at this thing we call ‘squash’. Another young member popping up on the radar, putting everyone on notice – just wait until he starts taking lessons and actually learns the game! Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see any of his matches, but it appeared that he was relatively untroubled in all of his 3-0 wins. That included the final against John Mann. Okay, okay – I will start to make this tougher for him. Not only will he playing 4.5, he’ll have to do it with a frying pan as a racquet, flippers for squash shoes, and perform a push-up while shouting, “thank you sir, may I have another?” between shots.

4.5… When I started coaching Robbie Biskup just over 3 years ago, he was raw 2.5 (at best). He’s a feel-good story for any coach, and the perfect example of hard work paying off. His effort level and determination is second to none, One day, one fine day, he’ll learn to win in three. Because pretty much every match he plays is a donnybrook for the ages. Of his past 21 matches on Sporty, only four of them were 3-0. Two of his matches in Chicago at the McQueenie Cup were brutal 5-setters. He did win his first round here 3-1 though, a good result against Brian Bartes but since it didn’t go 5 games, Robbie felt a little robbed no doubt. Making up for it, his semifinal against Mark Gregory did go all the way. To add extra pressure, at 1-game each, Robbie found himself 5-10 down in the third. Busting a spleen and kidney to survive, Robbie scraped his way back and pinched the game. It saved him. The match still went to 5, but it wouldn’t have had Mark won the 3^rd. The lack of oxygen caught up with Mark in the 5^th and Robbie lived to see another match – the final. There, he had to deal with the cleverness of Tony DM. Tony moves the ball around a lot. Tony is steady. Tony made Robbie run. Tony likes to wear loud t-shirts and shorts. Robbie ran. And ran. And lunged. And twisted. And hung in there. Robbie admitted afterwards that he never felt like he was in much control and did all he could to keep it close. Once again, that persistence paid off and Robbie fell over the finish line winning it 11-9 in the 5^th!

Matt Paradiso and Iain Prendergast

5.0… Matt Paradiso doesn’t lose very often. He’s another one of these young guys that improves so quickly, just when you think you have him in at the right level for a league, he already outgrowing it 2 weeks later. It’s like dealing with a child in the middle of a growth spurt, but for Matt, that spurt has been continuous for 4 years now. Matt lost the final of the 5.0 last year to David de la Torre, who couldn’t defend his title this year since he’s recovering from an Achilles injury. Here, he earned himself another opportunity to capture his first club championship title by getting to the final dropping only one game. His opponent would be another newcomer to the DAC (not to squash though!) in Iain Prendergast. Since joining at the start of this year, Iain’s only loss has been to Matt. He’s also beaten Matt, and the scuttlebutt on the street was that Iain was the bookies bet for the win. For the record, Iain also dropped just 1 game to reach the final. Hats off to Matt for this one, I must say. He went on with a game plan and for the first 2 games, executed it competently and consistently. They were tough, long rallies, but the strategy was working. The third game, though, was a struggle. Matt was beginning to tire, the racquet was beginning to drop, the feet were beginning to drag. But somehow, he maintained himself within striking distance and at 10-all in the third, a little luck (maybe), an unforced Iain error to boot, Matt nabbed it 12-10. Safe to say, had Iain won the third, we would have had a 5^th game too. The much anticipated final was great to watch. The only downer for the crowd was that it didn’t go longer than three games.

Jed Elley and Stefan Houbtchev

Open… Who can stop the Stefan Houbtchev power train? A plane? A tall building? Superman? Well, until we get a superhero joining the club, we can sit back, relax, and enjoy the Stefan show. Actually, the one thing that did stop Stefan was a micro organism called “Covid” that blocked all passage from his secret lair in Windsor last year. Stefan was surgically clinical during this tournament, giving virtually nothing easy away in any of his matches, including the 3-0 final versus Jed.
But that’s not to say that the category is uninteresting. Match of the draw must go to the Jed v Vikram semifinal. These two are building quite the fascinating rivalry. Prior to this semi, of the 16 recorded matches, Vikram had won 9 of them. Only one of their matches was a 3-0 score line. Curiously, they have played against each other in every club championship since 2016 (in the final), neither of them has won twice in a row. And, based on that trend, since Vikram won their club champs match in 2021, it would be Jed’s turn now. In one of their longest matches no doubt, Vikram took the first 2 games 12-10. It’s always tough to come back from 0-2 down, but Jed grit his teeth, pulled up his big-boy pants, and began the comeback quest one grinding point at a time. It took over an hour, but Jed heaved his aching body over the finish line 11-9 in the 5^th to take the win. But, Stefan is the man of the hour, the man for 2022, the name that will be forever hanging in the great halls of DAC Club Championship honor boards.

All the winners and finalists are now eligible to represent the DAC at the 2023 Farris Cup. Hopefully we can avenge our annihilating capitulation of that event earlier this year with this fine line-up! Always the optimist, I am.

LA CRÈME DE LA DOUBLES CRÈME

2022 DAC Club Championships

It’s like we are back to the good ol’ days. Covid is becoming just a fleeting distant memory and it won’t be long until we’ll be having the conversations and reminiscing… “remember – on pain of death - when we used to have to wear a mask, dress in a hazmat suit and keep a kangaroo’s leap away from any other human to go outside? That was awesome…”  It also brings back to normal the ineptitude of the Detroit Tigers, it’s May and we still have the heating on, my wife’s spring cleaning kick when she calls me at work to discuss if I still need that hand cream that expired 4 years ago or can she throw it away, and of course the DAC Club Championships, the celebratory event that signifies the end of the ‘busy’ season and honoring the conquerors of their respective categories!

Here is Part 1... Doubles…

Manny, Dave, Joe, John

60+… New kids on the block! No. no, not the players themselves, they have been around the block more times than a 5-year-old on a merry-go-round, but the category itself is new. I was delighted to see nine teams register, flaunting their youthful zealousness as if they had all discovered the fountain of youth. None more than the sprightly combination of Manny Tancer and John Roarty.A flawless performance through the entire draw, thwacking away their challenges like a couple of Aussies sitting on the back porch in the middle of summer fly-swatting all the mozzies away. Their opponents in the final were Dave Walker and Joe O’Connor who aren’t exactly push overs either, as they crept over the line in the semifinals against Ted Morris and Shail Arora 3-2. But Manny and John were taking no prisoners and took care of business 15-13; 15-11; 15-10 and awarded themselves with the first ever 60+ Doubles Club Championship title!

C Draw… I bow to the greatness of Renée Fershée! She has been a superstar this season with getting new members involved into the doubles league. She will email you, call you, wine and dine you, and if that doesn’t work, she’ll threaten you, kidnap you and chuck you onto the court and force you. If she could play doubles 25 hours a day 8 days a week, she would. From not even having a C draw last year, we managed 6 teams for 2022, and Renée was instrumental in arranging many of those players. Of course, she was also a victim of her own success since she teamed up the winning squad of Dan Pawlak (her own nephew as well!) and Spencer Roed. Dan and Spencer got to the final beating the DAC’s first ever all female crew of Sam Quilter and Ashley Thibodeau in an all-out 3-2 scrimmage. Word on the street from all involved was it was the best match they had ever played (win or lose). In the final, Renée and her partner Shane Wummel couldn’t quite come up with the goods and they went down 3-0. As expected, this hasn’t dampened Renée’s motivation, in fact it has no doubt stoked the flames… she is still on the warpath and throwing together a posse for the summer league that would have more players than in the winter. Unheard of and awesome!

B Draw… The largest of our doubles draws. Looming large and determined were the pairing of Jordan Dean and Colin Casey.

Jordan Dean and Colin Casey

The bridesmaids in 2021, that loss was still stinging deep into the veins. Like Frodo on a quest to Mordor, anything less than success would signify certain doom to the Colin Casey Shire. They reached the final dropping only one game and were preparing themselves to go into combat against the one and only team that had beaten them in the league since 2020… Mike and Alex Parker. However, Mike and Alex were upset in the semi-final against our tallest ever combined team of Andrew Miller and Will Owen. There aint no lob high enough, aint no crosscourt wide enough, it feels like you’re playing against two Dr. Octvaius’s. Undeterred, and with laser like focus, Colin and Jordan had nothing but eyes on the prize, and nothing – not even the supernatural wingspan of their opponents – was going to deny them victory. It wasn’t without complication or stress. Andrew and Will gave them all they could handle. At 1-game all and 14-14, the sudden death point fell to Colin and Jordan and that turned out to be the pivotal moment. That game loss took the wind out of the Miller / Owen sails and the 4^th was a little easier for the Casey / Dean team. The Shire was saved, Colin will be able to sleep nightmare free once again.

A Draw… A very competitive bracket. The first mega-result was in the first round. Rob Biskup and Robbie Biskup father and son combo went down to the wire against Charles Roby and Dewey “I-can-hear-you-before-I-can-see-you” Steffen. Maybe (maybe not?) a little controversial finish with the ‘let’ call on the do-or-die rally, but Roby and Steffen walked off the 15-14 in the 5^th as the winners. A confidence booster for the pair, they then took down the second seeded team of Dave Walker and Brandon Tasco 3-1. Dave tipped his hat to them and said that they were simply outplayed on the day. The unforeseen semifinal berth was as far as they would get however. Ian Edwards and Matt Paradiso were quietly making their way through the draw and very politely sent Roby / Steffen softly “Boo-Yah-ing” their way back to the locker room after a 3-0 victory. Meeting them in the final – Rich Stimson and John Roarty. The second mega-result for the category. In the semifinal Rich and John had a ding-dong clash against Patrick Petz and Manny Tancer. It what was one of the matches of the season no doubt, and nothing wrong with a little passion thrown into the mix, it was all in good spirits. It’s gut-wrenching to lose so close a match as well, but can be exhilarating winning one. Rich and John lucked out and pinched it 15-14 in the 5^th. An interesting final, it was a good showcase of the importance of playing doubles regularly and not just once year. Stimson / Roarty displayed the needed experience and kept their younger opponents off balance and frustrated. A well earned 3-1 win. This is Rich’s 3^rd doubles club champ title. His first came in 2009.

Open Draw… Probably the most tightly contested Open draw we have had in recent memory. Let’s start with Tom MacEachern and John Mann. Certainly (and no offense to them) not a team that was picked to reach the semifinals. Their run was impressive if not a tad unusual. In both their first 2 rounds, they were deep into the 5^th game when one of their opponents (Max Franklin in round 1 and David de la Torre in round 2) snapped their Achilles tendon. A horrible way to end any match and we send Max and Dave all the best for a full and speedy recovery (as much as an Achilles recovery can be quick!). That being said, not taking anything away from Tom and John, there was every chance they could / would have won anyway. Stopping them in their tracks was Stefan Houbtchev and Ryan Covell. Stefan and Ryan definitely looked like the team to beat in the final – cruise control up until that point. Meeting them there was Robin Basil and Vikram Chopra. No surprise there, but they almost stumbled in the semifinals against JC Tibbitts and Jason Currie. Currie / Tibbitts almost caused an upset as big as when the Australian army in 1932 declared war against an army of emus…. and lost (look that up – it’s actually true). They took Chopra / Basil to the brink only to fall short 15-10 in the 5^th. The final was the first 5-setter we’ve had since 2013. And it was a doozy. Stefan and Ryan were still in cruise control and motored through the first game 15-3 before Robin and Vikram even knew what hit them. But they got their mojo going in the second game and although they didn’t win it (13-15), they felt as if the tide was turning. It was as if Rocky Balboa had finally landed that one punch on that Russian drug cocktail and suddenly the match had a different vibe. The squash was high quality. Hard hitting, hard angles, hard running, hard drinking from the audience… enthralling, exciting, captivating…tasty. Down to the last couple of points in the 5^th game… 13-all… 14-13… Extraordinarily, from 0-2 down, Vikram and Robin completed the most improbable comeback to win 15-13 and with that, they retain the title for another year! Congratulations fellas!