DAC Squash Classic Feb 6-9, 2020
Have
we all recovered yet? I am typing this report 6 days after the completion of
the DAC Classic, and I still feel like I need more sleep. Although, that could
very well be because I am no longer a spring chicken (more like a hackneyed and wrinkly rooster)
and nothing to do with the tournament at all! It could also be that Stu ran me
around a couple of times this week as well and his young legs clearly don’t
make it a fair contest.
By
all accounts - and I mean feedback not just from the competitors, but from the
fellow DAC staff and managers - the DAC Classic this year ran very much like
clockwork. Matches were on time, most people were able to turn up (we did have
a couple of late cancellations but all due to legitimate personal reasons that
certainly outweigh the banality of a squash tournament), the food was plentiful
and as always up to the expected standard of our club, and we thankfully didn’t
have any injuries or… off court festive, over-indulging incidents to deal with.
No one lost their shirt, right GS? I did deplete my stock of Band-Aids though
as one of the London players had no issues diving all over the court and
leaving half his skin behind every other rally! But that’s not to say every
single person was happy. As is with any event, some are unhappy with the way
the draws pan out, feel like there is a conspiracy against them based on who
their opponents are, and make arguments to me that are head scratching at best.
It’s all part of the deal, I hope the keg eased their pain somewhat!
So
who won? Rather than go through category by category this time, I am going to
highlight the outstanding performers…
 |
| Farzin Habib Pour, Brad Hanebury, Jed Elley, Ryan Covell |
Jed Elley and Ryan Covell. Doubles A.
Team “Jed-Co” - or “Covelly” were unseeded and to be honest I didn’t hold much
hope - or thought - they would do any damage in this event. How wrong I was.
The Doubles A draw must have been the toughest we have had since at least 2005,
teams from Toronto, Chicago, London… a number of candidates to take the title.
But Jed-Co? Talk about finding form at the right time, Jed and Ryan swatted
away their first 2 opponents 3-0, including the number 1 seeded team from
Chicago. They then had their toughest challenge in the semifinal against a team
from Toronto but all in a day’s work for our lads, a 3-1 win had them in the
final and many of us wondering if, after all these years of dreaming, a DAC
team could actually win the Doubles A…
The
finals opponents were out of London - Brad Hanebury and Farzin Habib-Pour.
They had swept through the draw up to this point without dropping a game and
looked formidable. It appeared as though that trend would continue for the
final after Brad and Farzin controlled the first 2 games and were sitting
pretty for a 3-0 victory. Cue the “Covelly” comeback. Cracks appeared in the
London wall, they suddenly were not as sharp - errors started to creep into
their game. Ryan and Jed stepped up the pressure, they started to sense a
little opening and they were not going to let this opportunity slip. Egged on
by the local crowd, our boys turned it on, grabbing the momentum and never
looking back. They completed the comeback and ended up winning the 5th 15-10
and earning what was an unlikely - but fully deserved - title.
 |
| Dave Devine in action during the Doubles C final |
Marc Lakin and Brian Ellison. Doubles C.
The DAC are no strangers to winning the Doubles C at the Classic - in fact we
have won the title four of the past five years. A big reason for that is
numbers, we make up a good percentage of the teams… still have to win though! Brian
Ellison was actually paired up with Patrick Petz for this event, but
Patrick was struck down with the flu last minute and had to withdraw. Luckily
we had Marc on standby who was more than ready to jump in and like a kid on
Christmas morning, Marc grabbed his racquet and started tearing the place up.
With no problems, Marc and Brian won their first 2 matches 3-0, had a slight
hiccup in the semi where they won 3-1 against David Pontes and our long
lost missed friend Ken MacDonald (who comes back to visit us from Denver
every year) and were waiting in the final for their last victims.
Meeting
them there was another DAC pair - Jeff Rogers and newly elected DAC Prez
David Devine. Jeff and Dave also stamped their authority leading up to
the final without dropping a single game. This would be Dave’s second chance at
the winner’s trophy - he came very close to winning the C draw in 2017 with Alan
Howard only to lose in 5 games. Unfortunately for Dave, the Ellison /
Lakin team was merciless. Nothing more than “too good” would be the
theme for this match, there wasn’t much Rogers / Devine could do.
Clinical work for the 3-0 win, Marc and Brian should be proud of the weekend’s
work.
 |
| Scott Beals in the Doubles B final |
Scott Beals and JB Miller (Maryland).
Doubles B. The DAC almost got a clean sweep of the doubles categories which
would been a monumental achievement given our past history of results. Scott
Beals teamed up with a buddy of his out of Maryland and they were certainly
going into the draw as an unknown entity. My money was leaning towards the Jason
Currie / JC Tibbitts team, who won the B’s last year and I saw no reason
why they couldn’t repeat that effort. The two teams met in the semifinal and
even though I didn’t see any of it, I am predicting it must have been a great
contest considering it went to 5. (I am of course assuming all 5-set matches
are awesome!) Scott and JB ended up winning it, earning their ticket to the
final.
Their
opponents are also past B Doubles champions of the Classic. Laura Savage
and Betsy Carson from London won this title in 2018… although
consistency seems to be their Achilles heel a little - they lost round one last
year. Laura and Betsy had an easier run to the final, dropping only one game in
the first match, and winning 3-0 in their semi over John Mann and Ryan
MacVoy. (John and Ryan won their second round 15-14 in the 5th!) So would
Scott and JB be compassionate to the lovely ladies of London? Ummm. No. No they
would not. It was a tough final though, but the boys were not standing down to
the girls and they took a 3-1 victory!
The
DAC had 5 of 6 doubles winners this weekend. Remarkable.
Matt Paradiso - 3.5 singles. How much as Matt improved in the last 12
months? Plenty. A year ago
he was coming fresh of his 2.5 singles win in the Classic, this year he was agonizingly close
to pulling out of the event with the flu. He decided to stick with it - and
good thing he did too. Skipping the 3.0 altogether, Matt got stronger as the
weekend moved forward. His toughest challenge came in his second match against Nathan
Labenz (Franklin) who stretched Matt to 5 games. Outside of that, he was
relatively untroubled all the way through the tournament, taking every other
match 3-0 including the final. At this rate he’ll be competing for the 4.5
title next year…
 |
| Stephen Canis and Matt Paradiso |
 |
| Drew Barr and Alex Ford |
Drew Barr (BAC) - 5.5 singles. Gotta love the
youngsters. Drew is 17. Drew was the number one seed. Drew is very unassuming
and quiet spoken young man. Drew is also good. Drew has committed to the
University of Virginia next year, and they are picking up an excellent recruit.
And he proved himself to be rather mentally tough this weekend as well -
something you don’t see every day in someone so young. His calm demeanor and
temperament is to be admired.
He
did win the 5.5 the hard way. A 3-0 win in his first match, he then took on our
club number one - Stefan Houbtchev. One of highest quality matches of
the weekend for sure, Stefan actually headed into the fourth game 2-1 up. But
Drew never gave up and worked very hard to keep the pressure on Stefan who was
finding it difficult to put an end to this match. Sending it into a 5th, the
two kept it very tight all the way, but it was Drew who was the steadier
player. You could see that he made sure his shots were not going to hit the
tin, whereas Stefan was cutting the margins just a fraction too much. Timely
unforced errors, Drew held on for an 11-9 in the 5th win. Onto the final just 4
hours later. It would test his fitness too.
His
opponent would be Alex Ford from London. Alex cruised through the draw,
slicing and dicing everyone 3-0 and with the easier semifinal of the morning,
certainly held the edge on Drew over energy levels.
Alex
almost pulled it off. In fact, in reality, he should have. A 2 games to
1 lead, and a 10-8 in the 4th to earn 2 match balls as well, Alex may have lost
sleep on this one. Drew’s never-say-die attitude came to the fore, rock solid
steadiness, forcing Alex to win the rallies rather than gift him any, he got
back to 10-all. The tie break was rather epic as well, Alex won himself two
more match-balls only to have them squandered with Drew’s brick wall squash.
The 14-12 to Drew in the 4th broke the Londoner. Drew didn’t let up in the 5th,
kept to the same strategy of just clinical, relentless squash and grabbed the
win. Impressive stuff!
For all the winners, finalists and consolation winners, please see this LINK.
Ironman
Award… Howie Webb (Franklin).
Howie is a glutton for punishment. I always say that you enter 2 singles
categories at your own risk. Of course that warning goes often unheeded, and
Howie was this year’s victim of that unheeded-ness. Howie reached the final of
the 3.0 main draw and the final of the 3.5 consolation for a total of… TEN
matches. He lost both finals, but at least picked up some hardware for
being the 3.0 finalist. He also picked up a desperate need of a massage, hot
tub, steam, beer, a week off, new set of legs, and a desperate inner reflection
of one’s self as to why he abused his body so violently and appeared to enjoy
every minute of it.
Dancing
Queen Award… Gary Sullivan (London). Won’t go too much into this
one, but needless to say, we hope we don’t have to see this again in future
years, as the photos I received of his… ‘moves’ were not exactly Michael
Jackson -esque but maybe more Elaine Benice -esque (Seinfeld reference for
those who aren’t that old!).
Fashion
Faux-Pas Award… Joe Longo (London). Now, where you would shop for a pair
of black sparkly pants is beyond me, but why would you would even think of
wearing a pair of black sparkly pants is beyond-er me. Not many people can pull
this off. And I am not sure Joe did either.
It
goes without saying that without the support of the sponsors, the DAC Classic
would be a shadow of its current form, so my hat goes off to you all. There are
countless thank you’s to hand out, another reason this tournament gives all
involved the unforgettable experience the DAC can provide year in, year out: My
(new) right hand man, Stu Hadden; Assistant Athletic Director Nick Peet; Men’s
and Women’s locker room staff; the Catering department, chefs, housekeeping
crew. Dave Devine, Josh Slominski… the list is long, everybody plays an
important role. The behind the scenes - the un -seen work - is what sets
us apart.
