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The longest continually running softball tournament in North America founded
by Dr. Quinten Hyder in 1969 continued in style in 2003. With Dr. Hyder on
hand taking in the weekend action, the tournament saw 139 amateurs and 32 professionals
compete at various clubs around the city. Headlining this year’s event
was the CJSquash.com WISPA tournament draw of 16 that was played alongside
the draw of 16 male professionals. Tournament headquarters were at The Sports
Club/LA, where the pro draws were played, along with the top amateur draws
and all main draw finals. Other clubs hosting earlier rounds were the Harvard
Club, the Princeton Club and the Yale Club.
The withdrawal of Jenny Tranfield due to illness meant Sharon Wee became the
number one seed, and American Latasha Khan moved up to the second seed spot.
The final saw Sharon Wee face number eight seed Alison Waters. Wee’s
power and dominance prevailed as she won the inaugural WISPA event 3-1.
In the men’s pro draw, the top four seeds prevailed throughout the event.
The semi finals between Shahier Razik and Julian Wellings, and Victor Berg
and Peter Genever saw the audience sit in awe of the athleticism and skills
of each player. The final between Razik and Genever resulted in Razik lifting
the trophy after a four game battle.
The amateur draws featured an invitational 6.0 draw where Harvard alumni,
Daniel Ezra, was seeded to meet Trinity alumni Marcus Cowie in the final. Dartmouth
alumni Beau River had another agenda though and beat Ezra in the semi-final
before beating Marcus Cowie in three in the final.
Adam Walker from Greenwich, CT, (brother of Damian Walker) was dominant in
the men’s 5.5 as he was victorious over local New York players. Initially
taking on junior Tommy Wolfe in the quarter-final, Walker went on to meet Princeton
alumni Charles Goodwin in the semi-final and Michael Scherl from New Jersey
in the final.
The men’s 5.0 saw four local New York players reach the semi-final.
In the top half of the draw, number four seed Nick Monogenis, from NYSC was
victorious over number one seed Peter Blatchford, from Brooklyn in the semi-final.
In the bottom half of the draw, Yale alumni Nik Bhandare, number two seed,
beat Steven Pierson from Brooklyn to set up a meeting with Monogenis. The final
was a battle that saw Monogenis clinch a 9-7 victory in the fifth game.
In a similar vein the final of the men’s 4.5 and men’s 4.0 were
five game battles. The men’s 4.5 final saw the number one seed Attila
Agh from New Jersey beat number two seed Eric Drier from Long Island. Fighting
back to two games all, tiredness seemed to take hold of Drier allowing Agh
to take the final game 9-1. In the men’s 4.0, the two finalists were
both from Brooklyn. Jesus Manzenda from the Eastern Athletic Club managed to
take a 2-0 lead over Ben Pierson from Cobble Hill before the game scores leveled
at 2-2. The final game went the full distance with Ben Pierson claiming victory
with a game score of 10-9.
The men’s 3.5 and men’s D also featured some hard fought battles
throughout the draw. In the top half of the men’s 3.5 draw, Dale Nicholson,
number one seed from NYSC, outmaneuvered Ed Bafford, who rebounded off the
back wall, in his attempts to retrieve Nicholson’s drives to length.
In the bottom half, Aleski Brown from NYAC beat Mason Drake in five setting
up the final with Nicholson. The final went to four games with Brown outlasting
Nicholson.
The men’s D draw saw the juniors fall victim to their more experienced
counterparts. The semi-finals pitted Diego Hoic from NJ, against Enrique Doger
and Tom Flynn from Connecticut against Seamus Thompson from New York. Both
matches were over in three games setting up a final between Hoic and Flynn
where Hoic claimed the winner’s title.
In the men’s 60+ draw the top two seeds, Robert MacDonald and John Greco
fell victim in the semi finales to Nikki Lang and Steve Vignolo respectively.
In the final, it looked as if Lang from Canada might have made a comeback after
taking the third game. However Vignolo was too strong and claimed victory with
a 9-1 scoreline in the fourth game.
The six players in the men’s 70+ draw were split into two groups of
three for round robin play. The winners of each group would face off against
each other in the final. Norman Hugo from the Union club met Bob Barton from
New Jersey in the final. Barton was just too strong in the final and was victorious
in three games.
The women’s 5.0 and 4.0 draws were both round robin formats of four
and five players respectively. In both draws it was a junior from NYSC that
claimed the title. In the women’s 5.0 Emily Park continued to add to
her growing list of titles with Amalia Londono from New Jersey taking second
spot. In the women’s 4.5, Alia Aziz won all her matches to take the title.
Only falling victim to Aziz, Christine Mercnik took second place.
The women’s C draw of eight included four juniors, two of which made
it to the final. In the top half of the draw, Victoria Barba put up a spirited
fight against Katherine O’Donnell in the semi-final. However O’Donnell
won the match in three games. In the bottom half, having played a tough five
game match against Campbell Sechrest, Karen Kim fell victim to Alix Walker.
In the final O’Donnell from New Jersey beat Walker from Connecticut in
three to take the title.
For more information on the pro draws see the reports and pictures on Squashtalk.com.
Results
Men’s Pro
Final: Shahier Razik def. Peter Genever 3-1
Semi-finals: Razik def. Julian Wellings 3-0; Genever def. Victor Berg 3-1
Women’s Pro
Final: Sharon Wee def. Alison Waters 3-1
Semi-finals: Wee def. Dominique Lloyd-Water 3-0; Waters def. Amelia Pittock
3-1
Men’s 6.0
Final: Beau River def. Marcus Cowie 3-0
Consols winner: Andrew Merrill
Men’s 5.5
Final: Adam Walker def. Michael Scherl 3-0
Consols winner: Kip Gould
Men’s 5.0
Final: Nick Monogenis def. Nik Bhandare 3-2
Consols winner: Ramesh Haridas
Men’s 4.5
Final: Attila Agh def. Eric Drier 3-2
Consols winner: Michael Farahnick
Men’s 4.0
Final: Ben Pierson def. Jesus Manzenda 3-2
Consols winner: Matthew Candel
Men’s 3.5
Final: Aleski Brown def. Dale Nicholson 3-1
Consols winner: Don Hamrahi
Men’s D
Final: Diego Hoic def. Tom Flynn 3-0
Consols winner: Jon Sonne
Men’s 60+
Final: Steve Vignolo def. Nikki Lang 3-1
Consols winner: Bob Kreitler
Men’s 70+
Final: Bob Barton def. Norman Hugo 3-0
Women’s 5.0 Round Robin
Winner: Emily Park
Finalist: Amalia Londono
Women’s 4.0 Round Robin
Winner: Alia Aziz
Finalist: Christine Mercnik
Women’s C:
Final: Katherine O’Donnell def. Alix Walker 3-0
Consols Winner: Campbell Sechrest
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