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!

OUR DAC CLUB CHAMPIONS

2021 DAC Club Championships

The DAC Squash Club Championships is an event steeped in great tradition, with the names of the champions lining the walls of the club dating back decades. Unfortunately, due to the global pandemic we could not hold the 2020 edition, and so we were chuffed when we were given the go ahead to run it this year. That fact alone made it a success before it began. Deciding the seedings this year was slightly more arduous than in the past considering a fair percentage of members hadn’t recorded any results going back almost 12 months or - in some cases - even picked up a racquet, Luckily, using the power of “gut-feeling”, reading tea-leaves, and downright guess work, the draws were put together with confident precision. About as much confident precision I had that one time I played “pin-the-tail-on-donkey” and managed to stab my brother in the side of the head. I swear it was accidental.

Overall entries were down comparatively speaking, which was totally understandable. Still, over 70 participants in the singles and 60 in the doubles was a very satisfying number, and didn’t diminish anyone’s fully deserved victory…:

2.5 – AJ’s day…

The 2.5 category was (again) the one with the most entrants and when looking at the draw it seemed to be wide open with dark horses in every quarter, highlighting the improving depth we have coming up in the lower ranks. Finalist Kyle Keppen squeaked out a 3-2 win in the first round against talented newcomer and shot maker Daniel Dusina, chalked up a 3-1 win in the second round before taking on top seed Paul Gormley in the semi. Stu was witness to this particular contest, and in his true non-sarcastic manner, proclaimed it was a “fantastic game of squash with both gents playing in the true spirit of the game”, Kyle getting through the carnage 3-1. Based on that assessment, Stu immediately predicted Kyle would win the final. Stu also once ate a hard-boiled egg with the shell on, so we’ll take that forecast with a grain of salt.

AJ Peleman was seeded 2 and proved that ranking correct reaching the final. It wasn’t straight forward though; he dropped a game in the second round to the crafty Fred Minturn before scraping through a 5 gamer against the strong but unseeded Niko Ahee in the semifinal. Both AJ and Kyle are rather quiet, gentlemanly characters, and the final must have been one of the most polite (and hushed) in the history of squash. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t a ripsnorter. In fact, it was up there with one of the best finals of the tournament. Pity it wasn’t played on the Awards night in front of a crowd. We missed out. AJ, though, must have managed a tiny – even a barely audible whisper – squeal of joy as he took the match 3-2.

 3.0 – Jordan the-squash-machine Dean

In the 3.0 category, it got a bit wonky. Most of the matches ended up with a straightforward 3-0 or 3-1 win. Going against that trend however, Colin Casey and DAC newcomer Tom Pastore had a ding-dong battle in the first round with Colin eventually making it through in 5 agonizing games. Clearly inspired by his win, Colin toughened up his game face and took down the 3rd seeded Henry Gembis in straight sets in the quarter final. However, his run was brought to an abrupt halt at the hands of top seeded Jack Bernard in the semi.  Jack was clearly taking no prisoners and was carving through the draw in much the same way as I slice up my fruit for breakfast: quickly, quietly, happy not to lose any digits and a carnage of mess left behind.  

Jack’s final opponent would be Jordan Dean. Jordan had a tougher route to the final having to fight back the determined Ted Morris in his first match and then the much experienced David Walker in his second. Both results went to 4 games so based on these results and perceived form, Jack was heading into the final as the favorite. Of course, Jordan was having none of that. Despite a losing record against Jack in the past – and in fact the previous 2 recorded results, Jordan went down 0-3 - he brought a new found laser focus to the court, timed his precision strikes perfectly, and sent Jack packing 3-0.

3.5 – Iron-Mike

The 3.5 category was a different kettle of fish altogether with 7 of the 9 matches going 4 or 5 games. Arguably, the title of “dogfight of the tournament” could be awarded to this category’s quarter final match between two of the clubs most unorthodox players, Mike Parker and David Zack. Anyone who has played them will know they both hit a lot of cheeky winners into the front and that David is deceptively faster than one would expect. Mike ultimately managed to justify his place as second seed and shut the shop with his 187 boasts and a 12-10 in the fifth win. His semi final had him up against Dave Devine who is vastly improved thanks to regular lessons with Stu and upset the odd-makers with a 3-1 take down of Rich Stimson in his quarter-final. Dave clearly wasn’t bothered with Mike’s front corner assaults and marched himself to the final in straight games.

Seeded one, Mike Jenkins is another new young member gracing our courts. Mike runs like a greyhound chasing a rabbit and insisted on maximizing the court time to get his money’s worth in every match. From winning his first match against Dewey Steffen in 5 and probably hearing the familiar “BooYaah” more often than my wife asks me to take the trash out on a Sunday evening, to having to quarantine for 2 weeks, then edging past another slick quick customer in Shail Arora in the semifinal in a very tight 4-setter, to concluding his campaign against the great Double D in a marathon 5 game final. In fact, I think Mike is still running… 

4.0 – Bartes in Charge

No, Brian Bartes was not the oldest player in the 4.0 draw. He was the second oldest. But – as I have recently been reminded – age is but a number. It was a small draw of just 7 players, Brian was probably one of the fittest amongst the group despite his ‘veteran’ status. Because of that, I had him seeded number one, and in the end, he did prove me right (for a change!) although the final could have been completely different.

Jeff Rogers, Brian Bartes

Both semi finals came down to the wire. Brian had to withstand the stubborn persistence of Justin Jacobs, someone who manages to hang around for a lot longer than one would think. Justin has the knack of keeping opponents on court for extended periods of time and can be quite the steady-Eddie as well. Was it fitness in the end that carried Brian over the line in this challenging 5-setter? Either way, Brian earned his spot in the final where he would meet a very different type of player.

Jeff Rogers is a hustler. Unorthodox in his play, he can be an awkward fellow to counter. It also seems that Jeff loves to get the most out of his matchers and if squash is advertised as 1000 calories an hour, then gosh-darn-it, he’s getting his 1000 calories worth. He beat Han Peng in his first match in 5, a match that no doubt went way beyond the allowed booking time, then another 3-2 win over Josh Gershonowicz in the semis, because why not, right?

For the final, however, Brian was not having any part of Jeff’s desire to play until the sun went down, especially since it was arranged for 6.45 in the morning. In and out. Business like. No mucking around. Thanks for coming, but Brian was surgical with his “I’ll-take-the-3-0-win-if-you-don’t-mind” attitude. All at his pleasure as well.

4.5 – Ian is on It

Ian Edwards, Brandon Tasco

Another 7-man draw. One of the biggest improvers in the last 12 months is Ian Edwards, again thanks to regular lessons with Stu, regular hitting partners, and just being plain regular. His wins for the tournament weren’t all that regulation however, as squash never really is. You have to adjust and fight your way through stressful situations that sometimes no amount of coaching can teach you. You can’t train ‘doggedness’, or ‘effort’. You either have it… or you don’t. Ian’s opponents also had that intrinsic never-say-die defiance so it did make for entertaining contests, if not just lung-bursting marathons. After taking down Mack Gembis 3-2 in the semifinal, an opponent that up until that point he had an 8 to 10 match record against, he came up in the final versus another nemesis in Brandon Tasco. Brandon definitely held not only the head-to-head record here (10 wins to 4 losses) but also the mental one by a long way. He had won their last 7 contests.

I was fortunate enough to see some of this back-and-forth bout, both players determined not to give an inch. Long rallies, few lets (refreshing!), great court coverage. It really could have gone either way, but from what I observed, it was Ian who had the slightly more consistent length. Having Brandon dig the ball out of the back one or two extra times gave Ian the slender edge. And when you go deep into a 5^th game, that’s all you need. Great effort from both players, but it was Ian breaking the Tasco losing streak and taking the 4.5 title with a 3-2 victory.

5.0 – Amore for De La Torre

I’ve got to give it David de la Torre. El Guapo. Nacho Libre. El Chapo… whatever you want to call him, he was a man on a mission. Between throwing around that Ecuadorian accent that weakens the knees, to heading down south every other week for golf outings, Dave must have been somehow secretly training as he hit form at the perfect time. I didn’t have him seeded to win this – on the contrary - I even gave him a feed-in match. A match, it turned out, to be his most difficult of the event! On paper, Dave has a decent record against John Rogers, but that didn’t stop John from pushing him all the way to 5 games only to run out of gas, a victim of the COVID fitness regime.

Matt Paradiso, Dave de la Torre

Dave only became stronger from there. A 3-0 drubbing in round 2, then up against one of his Achilles’ heels in Greg Allare in the semis. Greg would be going in with the confident edge. Of the 28 recorded results between the pair, Greg had won 21 of them – including the last two. But Dave was determined to change his fortune and went on with a specific game plan to counter the hard-hitting, bulldog like approach of his opponent. Not an easy thing to do since Dave’s game is also based on power shots. But he managed to keep to the script and sustain the ball controlled and tight enough for a 3-0 win.

A different tactic was required in the final against Matt Paradiso. Matt must be one of the fastest, most improved players in the club over the past 2 years, he is a smooth operator, never gets ruffled, reads to play very well. Dave was not going to be able to push Matt around, he needed to overpower him somewhat. And he did. Strong squash, not giving Matt much opportunity to control his front court game, and steady enough to survive three games. The 3^rd was the closest of the match, and Dave admitted if he had lost that one, he probably would not have survived.

Open – Quick Flick Trick Vik

The Open category was one for the ages. It always is. This year, in person viewing was limited for the traditional Club Championships Finals Night so we were streaming it to the pavilion for the members to watch. Leading up to the Vik-Jed final were a couple of humdingers to mention. Derek Aguirre almost produced the big upset when he was 2-0 up on Robin Basil in the first round but failed to capitalize. Robin escaped the scare only to get the reward of being bounced by Jed in the semi. The other surprise came at the hands of Jason Currie who took down the 4^th seeded Ryan Covell in 4 games. Of course, Jason’s prize wasn’t any better than Robin’s. Vikram was waiting in the wings for him to hand out the beating.

Vikram Chopra and Jed Elley

For the final both Vikram and Jed looked slightly nervous at the prospect of playing on the custard and jelly (British slang for the television: “telly”), something that I imagine may have been a first for both of them. This was evidenced by the lead up to the match, where Vik who is usually good for a bit of rabbit and pork (“trash-talk”) was uncharacteristically quiet and Jed took on Vik’s usual role as the entertainer. The nerves clearly led to a shaky first game from both gents, with Vikram hitting the lesser of the slew of errors and so took the game that was never really in doubt, 11-7.

Both men came out in the second looking more relaxed and the level of play shot up, with Vikram’s shot making ability on clear display and Jed hustling away we looked set for the rest of the match to be a cracker. Down to the tie-break, it was Vikram pinching the 13-11 win, an important mental boost for him and a clear blow for the now desperate Jed. But you could see on Vikram’s face he was hurting from the effort and slightly concerned that the big springbok was about to bring it in the third which he duly did. Jed came out hitting the ball like he was trying to break it and Vikram was now on the back foot defending for the whole game. Jed rolled through 11-6. The fourth set was full of drama, with it being nip and tuck most of the way. The lads kept it tight, but Vikram seemed to have one or two more answers and slowly increased his lead, eventually earning 3 match-points at 10-7 and only needing one. Vikram would hold his nerve and buried a wide forehand crosscourt to close out the match and win the open title for the third time.

Doubles

Adding on to a very successful 2021 Club Championships for Vikram, he also dominated the Open Doubles category. He couldn’t hook up with his usual partner who he won the 2019 title with – Stefan Houbtchev – thanks to the ongoing COVID restrictions that prevents Stefan from crossing the border, so he took the next best option… Robin Basil. Robin has proved himself to be a formidable doubles player, translating that Racquetball knowledge of angles and natural power to the squash court. Vikram and Robin had to overcome the 2018 Club Champions in Jed Elley and Ryan Covell and did so without too much bother it seemed. The first 2 games were pretty much one-way traffic before Jed and Ryan found their footing in the third albeit way too late to make much of a difference. A convincing win for Chopra / Basil 15-6; 15-8; 15-13. The tough question for Vikram now presents itself: next year will you stay with Robin or switch back to Stefan? Should make for a fascinating event if all our top boys can play…

Roarty, Stimson, Jeff Rogers, John Rogers

In the Doubles A, we had 14 pairs, with nine results going to 4 or 5 games, 3 scores that were 3-0 and one forfeit due to an injury. Very competitive. No surprise really of who came out on top in the end, the top 2 seeded pairs did make the final – but only just. Both semifinals were 5-set encounters. Rich Stimson and John Roarty squeaked by Shail Arora and Manny Tancer, and then the Rogers boys John and Jeff had the see-saw battle of the titans against Ian Edwards and Matt Paradiso, that – if memory serves me correctly (which is sketchy at best these days!) – was a 15-14 in the 5^th result… Matt and Ian were also 2-0, 1-7 down in the 3^rd … almost a comeback of the ages before it wasn’t! The final was another hard fought match. Certainly Rich and John have the more experience, but the Rogers team have the legs and the lungs. And even though on the doubles court where experience is a huge advantage, the younger guns here prevailed to take the doubles title 3-1.

We had 10 pairs fight it out for the Doubles B. This category truly does get the mix of veteran teams and the fledglings to doubles that seriously have barely removed their training wheels. It’s great to see some new competitors and hopefully it encourages them to join the doubles leagues and get more involved in the future! Especially when you win… Tripp Kennedy is no stranger to the doubles, but his partner this year certainly was – Spencer Eick. Talk about being thrown into the deep end, Spencer had to learn to stay afloat without the water-wings. A quick study it appears. Making their way through to the final, they had their hands full against Jordan Dean and Colin Casey, both of whom are still relatively green but aren’t neophytes to the games either. Just like Trip and Spencer, Jordan and Colin only dropped one game to get to the championship match. Jumping out the gate with the same determination as a sumo wrestler running to the buffet table, the Casey / Dean combination took control of the match early and showed their opponents they meant business. It was a quick 2-0 lead. But not to be outdone, Kennedy / Eick calmed the storm and settled in pegging back the advantage and suddenly the pressure shifted. One game back, then two and now they could feel the Casey / Dean team cracking…  It was all they needed. A great come from behind victory, Tripp and Spencer took the match 3-2.

So there you have it. Winners and finalists of the singles category have qualified to represent the DAC at the 2022 Farris Cup versus the BAC next January (we are hosting). Congratulations to our winners, many of whom are first time title holders so it’s fantastic to see the new names making DAC history.

MASTERS OF THE SINGLES UNIVERSE

2019 DAC Singles Club Championships

April. One of my favorite months of the year. Winter is on its last legs, warmer days are sprinkled into the calendar to gently tease us for what’s to come, my wife clears away the bulky winter boots from the doorway (only to replace them with countless numbers of sandals… I mean how many pairs of feet do we have in the house?), every time I go outside I have to debate with myself for 5 minutes whether or not I should take a jacket, the Tigers are well on their way to treating us with another rebuilding year, the rabbits in our back yard are having a field day keeping the grass invisible… it’s a wonderful time!

It also indulges us with the DAC Club Championships! That one in-house tournament of the year that celebrates loudly all the winners, makes a party of the finals night and we congratulate ourselves on another successful winter season. So who propelled themselves into DAC immortality for 2019?

2.5 – Adam Who?

This year’s 2.5 bracket was the largest of all the categories, which is not all that unusual for this tournament. It’s also not that uncommon for many of the results to end up 3-0 given that there isn’t a lower division and the difference between the strongest 2.5 players and the lowest can be significant. Leading up to the final, we only had three results that extended all the way to a 5^th game, although we did get a handful of 3-1 score lines.

Greg Jones was not a surprise finalist, but he was one of a few that I believed could get there. None of his matches were straight forward leading up to the final, he was a model of consistency winning all three of those contests 3-1. His quarter final was against Steve Murphy (who I had seeded second), a player that he – strangely – had never played before. You would think after many years of league and box ladders, they would have crossed paths at least once! A lefty, experienced, and a doubles player, Steve can be an awkward opponent, especially if you haven’t stepped on court with him. Greg was up to the challenge however, and managed to jump that hurdle. In the semifinal, he was battling Julie Vande Vusse, someone he had played before, so there was a level of familiarity. Of their 4 previous meetings, Julie could only claim one victory – back in February of 2018 – and the losses were generally close. Julie also reached the semifinal last year of this tournament and was motivated to go at least one step further, but it wasn’t to be. Greg’s 4-set win put him in the final.

John Stelter was the front runner on the other side of the draw as the number one seed. He maybe a little… let’s say ‘wiser’ than his opponents that he met up with, but not too many can out hustle him. He did more than enough of that in his first two matches winning them 3-1 and 3-0 respectively. In the semifinal, he then met a wall in Adam McDowell. Who? As squash pro, I meet a lot of members. Impossible to remember all of them, but I generally have a pretty good beat on the squash players at least. Adam has been a part of our squash family for probably a year now (give or take) but plays at times I rarely see him. He could walk past me and I wouldn’t recognize him. That sounds bad, and I apologize to Adam for that. He took care of business against John - and like every other match before it – it was a 3-0 victory. Now at least I will get to know Adam a little better since he has to be here for the final and hopefully I will not forget what he looks like moving forwards! Nice to put a face to the e-mail.

McDowell v Jones. There aren’t any results between these two either, but my spidey-senses were tingling towards Adam this – he’s ranked higher on Sporty HQ. Picking up where he left off, Adam continued his 2.5 dominance, not exactly steam rolling Greg, but not giving him much wiggle room either. Another 3-0 victory for Adam completing a clean sweep of 3-0 matches through the draw. Greg didn’t play poorly, he was just beaten by the stronger player!

3.0 – Frost Ices Wilson

As I have mentioned before, we have had a small influx of young squash players this season that has dropped our average age of the court almost by half… Well, not quite that much, (unless you count the handball players…!) but they do look like they barely have started to shave and are a constant reminder of those days long since past when I was in my mid-twenties… when internet didn’t exist, mobile phones were a super luxury and (literally) the size of a briefcase, a car was considered ‘luxury’ if it was an automatic shift with electric windows and air conditioning, and Atari was the must-have game console. Simpler times. I digress.

Michael Wilson was one of eight 20-something year olds in the draw almost giving this bracket a junior tournament feel! It’s fortunate that we run this event over a month and give everyone roughly a week between matches, because for most of us we need the recovery. If this was all played within 2-3 days, the final may have looked rather different. Not for Michael though. He won his first match 3-0, then decided he preferred to add some excitement to the scores. His next 3 matches went the distance – all to 5 games – and no doubt he was loving every second of them. His semifinal win over Mike Ottaway was probably the biggest upset considering I had Mike as the top seed and he has the uncanny knack of finding ways to win in tight matches. Just means he’s a great competitor, but on this occasion, Michael Wilson was able to run it out reach the final.

My dark horse of the division was Matt Paradiso, barely out of high school, cool under pressure, never looks like he’s sweating. Matt reached the semifinal with 2 fairly comfortable victories, dropping only 1 game. His opponent would be Jeff Frost that on paper (according to Sporty HQ stats) should win 3-0. Jeff is significantly higher than Matt on the ranking, but Matt is moving up quickly so in this case, it’s a misleading view. That being said, Jeff did win the match, but it was 3-1, and Jeff was admittedly elated it didn’t head into a 5^th game. He was spent, Matt was still probably warming up.

Wilson v Frost. I’m giving the nod to Jeff on this one, again basing it on more experience, and Jeff will be fresh going in. Similar to the comparison to Matt though, Sporty HQ has Jeff the heavy favorite, but again, Michael is moving up the ranks. I don’t think it will be all that easy. Admittedly, I don’t have any feedback on how this match went other than the score. I am going to presume it was a grand battle, littered with memorable rallies. Jeff won 3-0, taking one for the veterans!

3.5 – Can’t Miss Chris

Got to hand it to Rich Stimson. I think every single year since I have worked here, he has entered the 3.5 division and he has yet to win it. He has come close – almost broke the streak last year when he lost the final in 5 to Brian Ellison, and he was also just one win away from glory way back in 2009 when he lost the final to George Kordas. He is competitive by nature – something about redheads? – and this year he stormed through the first two matches 3-0 before almost stumbling in the semifinal against Michael Hanchett.

Mike had a great showing for this event. He scraped through his second round against Han Peng with an impressive (and appropriate) 5-set win. It wasn’t really an upset since Mike has beaten Han before, but Han does hold a slight edge on win percentage. He still does, but now it’s just by one… 7 to 6. Mike has never come up against Rich before, so it was new territory for the both of them. Rich scooted out to a 2-0 lead but Mike fought back to level it at 2 apiece. Rich, however, dug deep and pushed through the 5^th to take the win and give himself his third bite of the 3.5 cherry.

In his way? Chris MacKenzie. He quickly turned himself into the favorite for this category (sorry, Rich!) as he carved his way through the draw, slicing and dicing, chopping and dropping, kicking and nicking all who dared stand in his path. That included the 3.5 champion from 2015 Josh Slominski in the semifinal who decided to reenter the squash arena just for fun after a long hiatus from competition. Josh is still no pushover, but Chris still managed to smash and crash his way past him and like all his other victims no one could manage to pick up a game.

Stimson v MacKenzie. Obviously, based on my last paragraph, Chris was my pick. Could Rich’s determination and drive be enough to finally get over the finish line? Ummm… no. It couldn’t. Chris is quick and in good shape, something that for us older players can be tough to deal with and Rich struggled to keep up with the pace of the game and the constant retrievals from Chris. It was a 3-0 win, and Chris will now step it up to at least the 4.0!

4.0 –  Brandon Continues to Rise

A decently competitive bracket that once again featured a sprinkle of younger players that are constantly improving. It makes it tough to place such players in the league because of the speed of their progress. They may be at the correct level when the league starts, but 3 to 4 weeks in they have already surpassed that standard and could be competitive one or two positions higher. Such is the case with Mario Ferrini and Brandon Tasco. Youth and athleticism is a fairly beneficial combination, plus they are playing multiple times a week which helps enormously.

Mario reached the semifinal but did it tough the whole journey. Two 3-1 wins to start off – one of them against the third seeded Scott Beals – and then in the quarter final he had to contend with the never-say-die efforts of Brian Ellison who is no stranger to, and not afraid of, diving for balls. Mario squeaked out the 3-2 win to reach the semifinal where he came up against one of his nemesis in Brandon Tasco.

Brandon had an easier run to the semifinal, dropping only one game. They actually have never played an official match against each other, but have practiced together often, Mario knew he was in for a tough time. But he played well and pushed the match to 4 games. Brandon gets to play the final, Mario should be pleased with a semifinal appearance.

The upper half of the draw was also closely fought. Another young rapid riser, Mack Gembis upset a couple of people along the way taking out Marc Lakin in 5 in round one and then the top seeded Brian Bartes in round two – also in 5 games. He was just a hair away from making 3-for-3 five-set wins but fell agonizingly short losing 12-10 in the 5^th to John Perkins in the quarter final.

Brandon Tasco and Mike Petix

With the early departure of Brian Bartes, Mike Petix was suddenly the favorite to reach the final. Mike very nearly didn’t make it out of round 1 but he survived the scare – and the cross court drop shots, backhand flicks, and endless scurry of Phil Pitters to win in 5. A little easier from then on, Mike took John Mann 3-1 and John Perkins 3-1 and was now in the final.

Tasco v Petix. Tough one to predict. I’ll cheated a little here and looked up their head-to-head. It did surprise me a tad to see that Brandon holds a 5-1 lead in that category – but – all of his wins went the distance. Either 3-2 box ladder or 2-1 league score lines. So I’ll lean towards a Tasco win, but it’s with hesitation. Mike has a little more experience and has actually won a club championship title before – the 3.5 division in 2012. Once again though, the fresher legs of the youngster would prove to be the difference maker. The longer the match went, the more Mike was slowing down. Mike won the second game, but the work he was putting in to win any point was catching up to him. Brandon could sense the gradual decline, he was determined not to let Mike get his breath back. Brandon completes an impressive 2018-2019 season with a 3-1 win!

4.5 – Run, John, Run!

Where are all the 4.5 players? Shocked to see that just 4 players signed up for this one, maybe they were scared of the number one seeded David de la Torre? That’s easy to understand, I mean this international man of mystery has a thousand nick-names (aliases) so he has to be looked at a little cross-eyed, no? Could he be the inspiration behind the Austin Powers character too? Who knows?

Anyway, Dave’s semifinal went according to my brilliant seeding and he won it 3-1 over John Roarty to reach the final. The other semifinal had exactly the same score line and also stuck to my brilliant seeding algorithm. Second seed John Rogers took care of business against James Van Dyke and even though I didn’t watch the match, after seeing John play a bit recently, I would venture to guess he lost the first game here before getting his motor running to roll through the following 3. It was only the second time John had beaten James, he had lost 3 of the previous 4 match-ups but going on current form, this isn’t an upset.

David de la Torre and John Rogers

Rogers v de la Torre. I am making my forecast here based on recent, first-hand observations of both players. Sporty HQ tells me I should be backing David here as history lists him as having John’s number. Four wins in a row, and only one game dropped. But, this may come down to a fitness issue. If John can extend the rallies long enough – even if he loses the first and / or second game – he has a chance of wearing Dave down. So, I am going off on a limb on this one and predicting a little upset here with John Rogers taking the title.

Just like a Hollywood script, I was spot on. John lost the first game, decided he was now warmed up, cranked his legs into second gear and started to grind away. It was curious to see that the longer this match went, the bouncier John got. He was getting faster, and he could smell the blood in the water. Dave on the other hand was straining. Every consequent rally that little but tougher, a little slower off the mark, glasses needed that extra few seconds to clean, the shoelace needed adjusting. Fitness caught up to him in a big way and John was in for the kill. Finishing the match with a couple of nasty drops, John took the 4.5 title with a 3-1 victory!

5.0 – Blake makes it 4

Overall, the 5.0 would be the most difficult of all the categories to choose a winner. We had 12 registrations in the draw this year, 6 of which had – at some time or another – already won at least one club championship title (over various categories, including the 5.0). This group play and practice regularly together so they are familiar with each other’s games, nobody was a sure thing.

Five set matches were almost expected here, and two of the four first round matches delivered. Chris Van Tol 3-2 over Jay Bonahoom and Paul Ward 3-2 over Ryan “has-anyone-seen-him-lately?” MacVoy. Chris survived another round as well, taking down JC Tibbitts 3-1 before meeting his match against the top seeded Andy Adamo in 4. Paul wasn’t so fortunate, he succumbed to the 2017 5.0 champion (and the 2016 4.5 champion; and the 2012 4.0 champion) Blake Ellis in his second match.

Tom MacEachern was seeded 3 and had a very difficult time against Brien Baker in his first match. Brien can volley with the best of them and if you aren’t consistently tight, you will find yourself running after countless volley-boasts into the front. Apparently, Tom ‘enjoyed’ that exercise and saw more of the front two corners than he has since his drop shot lesson with me. It was just enough to get over the finish line 11-8 in the 5^th. So excited Tom was to win in 5, he wanted to try and repeat that effort with Blake. However, Blake also adores long, lung-busting matches and was delighted to oblige. 5 games. Down to the wire. Was it 12-10 in the 5^th? Blake got the win and jumped into the final looking for his 4^th DAC title.

Waiting for him was Andy Adamo, one of the six players in the draw that has yet to win a club championship title. Although he has been the bridesmaid 3 times. Andy only dropped that one game to Chris Van Tol in the semifinal to reach the final and seemed to be hitting a decent ball in preparation.

Andy Adamo and Blake Ellis

Ellis v Adamo. The reading of the tea leaves her? I’m taking Andy on this one. Why? Because one of Andy’s finals losses came at the hands of Blake in 2017 11-9 in the 5^th. I am sure he still remembers that and by no means wishes to repeat it. Match history is not on his side however – Blake holds a commanding 8 wins to 2 losses against him. I think its Andy’s year though… Well, yikes! I got this wrong.

Blake started soundly in the first 2 games, quick on the ball and into the front, strong hitting. Andy, it seemed, looked somewhat flat. Although Andy has the skills to put the ball away, can display some silky touch – which he did at times – it was just too sporadic to make any dent into Blake’s game plan. It wasn’t long before Blake held a 2-0 lead. The third game changed around however, Andy kept a more controlled outlook and eliminated much of the unforced errors which – surprise, surprise – puts the pressure back onto the opponent. Blake started to find the tin more often, trying to be too exact rather than give himself a little margin. Andy took the third. But it was he wrote. The effort was too much to back it up for the fourth and Blake charged through the game, taking the match 3-1 and with it, his 4^th club championship title.

Open – No Stopping Stefan

The biggest Open category we have had since at least 2005, of the 14 players in this draw, 10 of them have experienced club championship glory in the past. Only 3 of them in the Open division though. So it is without a doubt the strongest Open draw we have ever had. The past 4 years have flip-flopped winners between Jed Elley and Vikram Chopra but this year would be a different story.

With the addition of Stefan Houbtchev last summer, he slotted himself immediately as the one to beat, strengthening our highest division even more. Stefan comes off a strong junior career in Canada and before moving back to Windsor, spent the last 3 years at Western University in London, Ontario on their squash team competing solidly on what is a very good team. So he has the goods. And the youth. And the strength. And the youth. And the talent. And did I mention the youth?

The biggest question was not whether Stefan was going to reach the final, but who would he be playing – the most likely scenario answering that question would be the semifinal between Vikram and Jed. And it was. There isn’t a whole between the two. Prior to this semi, they had 10 results recorded, 5 wins apiece, and if you wanted to get into the nitty-gritty, Vikram overall had won 17 games to Jed’s 16. So you may as well flip a coin to see who would win on this occasion.

I was fortunate to catch a game of this match – the third one after Jed had taken a 2-0 lead. Vikram appeared a little sluggish but can be awkward to counter when he starts pounding the ball with his whippy technique. It wasn’t the prettiest of games, but the ball was flying everywhere and Jed had a little trouble finding a comfort zone. A few unforced errors cost Jed the game, Vikram was starting to mount a comeback. Or so it seemed. It was short lived. Even though Vikram held a lead into the 4^th, Jed settled down and found the groove of the first 2 games to finish off the 4^th and jettison himself into the final to square off with Stefan.

Jed Elley and Stefan Houbtchev

Houbtchev v Elley. I’m picking Stefan to take his first title. It’s no secret he is the favorite, but it will be interesting to see what Jed can do. Keeping Stefan on court for as long as he can would be a good start. It didn’t happen in the first game. Jed appeared a little nervous to start this match, he was a step or two behind the power hitting of Stefan and was a little shaky with his own strokes as well. 11-2 in just a few minutes, but he would pick it up in the second. Longer rallies which is the ticket, the two players showed the rest of us some impressive court coverage, what a good, deep lunge is all about, and how recovering to the ‘T’ should be performed. Some nice winners from Jed in this game, but overall Stefan was still the dictating force. 11-6. The third game was similar to the second. Jed would put up some decent resistance, again slot a couple of nice winners, but the constant pressure that Stefan imposes eventually overruns everything. The best rally was left until the last rally of the match, Jed had Stefan on a string from corner to corner, but shockingly flubbed the easiest of put-away volley winners to end it. 11-5. A magnificent performance from Stefan, our new Club Champion!

Congratulations to all the winners and finalists – you are the representatives for our 2020 Farris Cup team that will need to avenge the loss we suffered through earlier this year.