Blitz Tournament - October 11, 2019
As
the day of the tournament rolled around, we had 24 players registered which was
an acceptable number although I still can’t quite figure out why we don’t
receive more. It’s an easy, quick event, doesn’t cost anything to play (except
a couple hours of your time), there’s a great chance you will play against and
meet new people, there’s a keg (you simply cannot argue with that one!) and it’s
the perfect kick-off activity before hitting the weekend.
However,
three cancellations came in over the day, whittling the number to 21,
creating multiple scrambles to rearrange the draw. This seems to happen just
about every single time, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is still
somewhat irritating to say the least. They just miss out on all the fun I
guess!
The
players were split into 4 groups of four and 1 group of five. The top 2 players
in each group then pass on to the knock-out bracket where then the they play
out for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The fate of the players very often lies in either the
result of one solitary sudden-death rally, or completely with karma - meaning
that if there is tie on the group stages, to determine who advances to the next
stage is determined by pulling straws.
Let’s
take Henry Gembis. Despite winning 2 of is 3 group stage matches, he
failed to advance. He can blame Mario Ferrini for a third of that, given
that if Mario had not won the 14-all sudden death rally against Jeff Rogers,
Henry would have automatically have ended up second. A third of the blame can
lie with Jeff Rogers as well after he won his sudden-death point against
DJ Boyd. Had he not, Henry would have also qualified. Since Jeff and
Mario squeaked out those victories, it created a 3-way tie for 1st place. Since
only 2 of the players can advance, straws were then pulled. Henry can now blame
Lady Luck for the other third, since he drew the short straw and was
eliminated. I suggest Henry lay off playing the lottery this week.
 |
| DJ Boyd and Chuck Doyle |
Henry’s
brother Mack Gembis was a little more fortunate in his group. His 15-14
win against Chuck Doyle was the difference making point that awarded him
second place and a place in the finals. Had he lost it, Chuck would have taken
his place.
There
was no need to draw straws in the third group, although each player did end up
with one win. The Jon Diewald and John Rogers result was,
however, the one 15-14 score that may have changed the outcome. Had Jon
Diewald won it, it would have forced a 3-way tie just like the first group
and who advanced to the finals would have been left to the stars once again.
But it was not to be. Which makes me think… would a player prefer to be
eliminated by simply not winning enough matches in their group, or be
eliminated by drawing the short straw? Henry may have an answer to that…?
The
fourth group had the 5 players, so they did have to work harder to qualify. Michael
DiFrancesco probably was delighted that his path would be more strenuous,
and he dominated the others taking all 4 games and not having the pressure at
one single sudden-death rally. In fact, out of the 10 games in the group, there
wasn’t one single 15-14 result. A little strange. Second place was not so clear
cut. Paul Gormley and Brandon Tasco both ended up with 2 wins so
the Squash Gods would have to make their choice. It appeared that Paul hasn’t
been putting in the praying hours needed to curry favor, the Squash Gods
clearly frown upon such misgivings and awarded the long straw to Brandon instead!
The
fifth group ended up with two 15-14 results, both of which would have avoided
the ‘agony’ of leaving the decision of who advances out of the hands to three
plastic, cocktail stirring instruments of fortune. Peter Shumaker avoided
that scenario by winning all three of the games, but the other 3 players all
had 1 win each. Had Cathy Lysack beaten Han Peng - or had Ted
Morris beaten Cathy Lysack - on that winner take all rally at 14-14,
second place would have been clear. But back we were at the straws… only one
would survive… Han takes the first guess and… loses! Cathy then takes a deep
breath… it’s a 50/50 chance now… and… wins! The good news is that as the event
moved along, Henry Gembis was feeling less lonely.
Knock
out rounds where the handicaps are made up on the spot, bribes to the organizer
are readily accepted, and the underdogs are clearly the crowd favorites. This
also starts to test the fitness levels of the players. Even though it may not
appear to be overly taxing, this event takes a little over 2 hours, by the end
of the the finalists would have between 6-7 games. That’s actually a fair
amount, especially since rest times between games in the knock-out round can
only be a couple of minutes at best. Andrew Miller won group 2, which in
reality doesn’t at all guarantee an easier run that what he would have received
had he come second. His quarter final match was against Mario Ferrini.
Andrew started with 8 points and held off Mario just enough to edge the 15-13
victory. His semifinal was just as difficult: Brandon T. Brandon - you
remember - only qualified through his successful straw drawing and was only in
the semifinal as well after beating Robbie Biskup 15-14 in the quarter
final. Brandon likes taking things to the edge it appears. He was giving Andrew
8 points handicap as well, but by this stage Andrew was feeling the effects of
all his previous matches. His legs wouldn’t cooperate as freely and Brandon
took the match 15-10 earning is spot own the final. For Andrew, he wasn’t quite
done either - he had the 3rd / 4th place to contend with still.
 |
| Michael DiFrancesco and Andrew Miller |
The
other side of the knock-out draw had the ‘dark horse’ of the event Jeff
Rogers frustrating his opponents. Easy to underestimate, Jeff is proving to
be quite the bit better than he looks (no offense intended of course!). His
first match was against Mack Gembis and I offered Jeff 9 points head
start - which to Jeff was a clear insult and he insisted on taking just 3
instead. I was somewhat surprised but if that is what we wanted to do, then he
would have no one else to blame but himself. Three it was. And three was all he
needed. He proved me totally incompetent by pulling out the 15-14 win! A great
win to say the least. His next match, the semifinal, was against Michael
DiFrancesco. I wasn’t about to make the same insulting move here - not with
these two - so the match would start at 0-0. Both readily agreed. A scrambling
feast had Jeff take the 15-7 win. In my mind I wasn’t surprised with the score,
I may have offered Michael 4 or 5 points to start, but knowing he probably
wouldn’t have taken it…
 |
| Brandon Tasco and Jeff Rogers |
The
3rd / 4th play-off: Andrew Miller v Michael DiFrancesco. Straight
up. No handicap here. I would like to see these two play when both are fresh. I
think it would be a ball-buster. However, Michael was holding the fitness edge
after all the games over the evening and although Andrew was pushing himself
hard, he fell just a few pints short. Michael takes 3rd place with a tough -
and overall terrific performance - 15-10.
The
final. Jeff Rogers v Brandon T. In my head I was leaning towards
6 or 7 points for Jeff, but before I could even start to announce it, Jeff was
walking on court declaring it would be a straight up contest. 0-0. He wanted
not part of any help. The crowd tried their best to influence him to take at
least some handicap but Jeff was defiant. Nope. Not happening. Brandon - for
his part - wasn’t about to argue! The game started off point for point - to
4-all. Up to that stage, it looked like Jeff would once again prove all the
critics wrong. But then it was pretty much one way traffic for Brandon who
grabbed the momentum and wasn’t letting go. He rolled the rest of the game and
walked off the 15-6 winner. This would be Brandon’s second Blitz title - he won
this event in March of 2018. Congratulations to all who competed, maybe you
could influence your fellow members into playing the next one!
