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 5th 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 3rd
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 4th 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 5th result… Matt and Ian were also 2-0, 1-7 down in the
3rd … 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.
