Metropolitan Squash Racquets Association

With a number of finalists out of town on October 9th, only three matches were played on the designated finals night. But those three matches proved to be hard-fought battles through to the final point.

In the men’s B, two Harvard team players, Nicolas Darveau and Michael Luskin, faced off against each other. As each player got used to the court the rallies extended. As Darveau started to dominate the match, Luskin found himself at the back of the court. While the final result was 3-0 to Darveau, Luskin put up a fight as he faced 2 game balls in the second and three match balls in the final game.

In the men’s Ltd A, Marc Levin from Lincoln met Bruce Gordon from the Princeton Club. Having taken the first game, 9-7, Levin got to 8-7 in both the second and third games, only to fall at the final hurdle to lose both those games in overtime 10-8. The fourth game saw Levin tiring, (maybe a result of the vaccinations he had in the morning ready for his honeymoon to Asia next week?!)

The men’s A match took the title of “battle of the night” with some great squash being played between Peter Withstandley of the Yale Club and Michael Scherl of the Sports Club/LA. Scherl started off in determined mode and was playing sterling squash pushing Withstandley to all corners of the court. However as the games rolled on Withstandley’s fitness and early volleying proved to be the turning point of the match. With a two game lead Scherl had three match balls, and each time Withstandley’s determination allowed him to save each one and earn his way back into the match. As Withstandley started to take the dominating position, Scherl was showing signs of tiredness. With leg cramps occurring in his calf and 5-0 down Scherl ended up having to retire allowing Withstandley to claim the title.

RESULTS