The Nash Cup - As Reported By Brian Porter

Guest Blog Post by Brian Porter-from the London Nashionals Squash Tournament

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of competing in one of two annual events held at the London Squash Racquets Club http://www.blogger.com/www.londonsquash.on.ca. The Nash Cup, named after their title sponsor, is an amateur event that is held in conjuction with a $6000 Pro event. This is one of my favourite events on the Squash calendar to attend. The LSRC is a neat little private Club that has been carved out of a 100 year old home in downtown London Ontario. The facilities have a certain charm about them (including a bar adjacent to the viewing area for court #1!) and the members are some of the friendliest and most welcoming around.

Our area was well represented by a handful of players at varying levels. Doug Fields, who was a finalist in the Men's C last year, worked his way into the quarter finals before he fell victim to the eventual division champ. Doug has played this event a number of times and the concrete courts are perfectly suited to his punishing rails!

In the Open category, Mick Joint from Detroit Athletic Club represented the area. It is always a joy to watch Mick play. He is so fluid and in control that he almost makes it look effortless as he grinds his opponents into the ground. Mick's 2nd round match was against Adrian Dudzicki. Dudzicki upset Joint in the 2nd round last year and has since become one of his nemeses. The pressure was certainly on this year and Joint found himself a quick 2 games down in this years semi final match. Joint, however, regrouped and designed an impressive comeback, defeating Dudzicki convincingly in 5. He then went on to bury the University of Western's #1 player Strachan Jarvis 3-1 in the final to win the event.

In Men's A, we saw Mark Porter play some of his best Squash. Sometime in the last 12-months Porter learned to hit a drop shot and he used it skillfully throughout the early rounds to make his way to the finals. On Sunday morning he prepared for his match against an unknown Chilean in proper fashion with a hot bowl of his mothers Chili. Unfortunately, the pre-game meal did not have the desired effect as he faced a length machine who methodically wore Porter down in a 4 game marathon.

Finally, the story of the tournament was our very own Sean Guay who competed in the Men's B division. Sean showed patience, skill and even a bit of poise as he cruised to the finals where he met LSRC's James Hayes. Hayes defeated yours truly in a see-saw quarter final that ended in Hayes' favour 13-11 in the fifth. Sean stuck to his game plan in the final and convincingly gave the court tour to Hayes over 5 games, exhausting his elder and claiming the division. Congratulations Sean!

In the PSA event, Bernardo Samper (http://bernardo-ontour.com/) of Columbia defeated Laurence Delasaux of England to claim his first ever PSA victory (7-11,11-6, 11-7,11-5). We will have the opportunity to see Bernardo play again soon as he will be competing at the Motor City Open in Birmingham at the end of January. Full details of the PSA event can be found here (http://www.squashsite.co.uk/2009/nash_cup_09.htm).

If you haven't played in a tournament, especially one outside of your home Club, you are missing out on one of the great reasons to play this game. It really doesn't matter what your level of skill is. By Sunday morning of an event, I always feel as if I have met some great people, made some new friends and learned just a little bit more about this game that we all love!

See you at the Fall Down Classic at WSF!
　
More Pictures from the Nash Cup http://www.naturesbestshot.com/2009/london-squash-club-nash-cup-psa-final/
　
Upcoming Tournaments
Nov 6, 7 & 8 - Fall Down Classic - Windsor Squash & Fitness Club

Jan 23, 24 & 25 - Window Film Systems - London Squash Club

Feb 6, 7 & 8 - DAC Classic - Detroit Athletic Club

Feb 26, 27 & 28 - TC Classic - Toledo Club

PSA Tournaments
Jan 27 to Feb 1 - Motor City Open - Birmingham, MI

Fall B Squash League - Week 1 Summary

Tuesday Night Marked the beginning of the New Fall B Squash League.

The finest match of the night was between Brad “Run and Gun” Lowery and Dave “The Destroyer”Porter. Both Lowery and Porter are familiar with each other’s game. As well, they both have their eyes on Monday Nights. Porter was hoping to catch Lowery sleeping and almost did by pushing the match to a fifth game. In this heated match, both players had their chances to win, but in the end, Lowery had a little more gas to prevail to victory.

Mike Stanesic showed no signs of a summer lay off. Stanesic’s game on Tuesday was sharp. He made quick work of Krista “Team Captain of the 3.5 Travel League”Leslie. His shots were tight and in the corners and Leslie had no answer for them. Leslie was not her usual self. Her game was missing the cat like reflexes that have become a staple of her game. Although Leslie claims she was just using this match as a warm for the MSRA Travel League, only time will tell if this is true.

Two old rivals squared off against each other in B2, Colin“Never Quit”Bateman and Al Pollier. The match consisted of four highly contested games. Although Bateman managed to pull out the victory, he was quick to give credit to his opponent Pollier. Bateman has battled Pollier before and knows the match could have gone either way. After the match, Pollier said he could not find a solution for Bateman’s never quit style of game.

Fall A Squash League Week 1 Summary

What an awesome start to the new squash season. It was great to see some old faces reappear. Although some of the old faces had some rust on their squash games.

The night started off fast with a surprising upset of Justin Warnock by Tim Majocha. Majocha made quick work of Warnock by winning, in a convincing fashion of, 3 games to none. Majocha’s shots painted Warnock into the corner in which Warnock had no answer. So proud of his victory Majocha was offering free Behr paint to anyone who was watching the match.

The best match of the night was between Todd “New Kid on the Block” Brancaccio against Craig “Old School” Guthrie. Guthrie who has been a ghost around the club lacked te cardio fitness and was forced to rely on his shot making ability. This played right into Brancaccio’s hands as his game is built around running down shots and long rallies. The match went to a fifth game with a final score of 10 – 9 for “Old School”.

Another thrilling match last night saw Steve “Michael Douglas” Byrne go up against Peter Brett. Both showed sign of brilliance but at times displayed some summer rust. This battle went back and forth. The match was so tough that Byrne was forced to bring out his patent shot “The Byrne Drop Shot”. If you are not familiar with this shot it is a fake length drop shot that Byrne has down to a science. Despite this Brett prove to be too strong and in the end won the match in the fifth game

Online Squash Ladder

The online squash ladder is ready. To register: Go the "Loggin In" Page and at the bottom of the screen click on "New User" and register. Please be patience with the site as we may still need to work out some bugs. Thank You

http://www.squash-ladder.net/wsf

The Nash Cup

The Nash Cup - London, Ontario- Oct 2-4/09

Some players who have confirmed for the PSA event include Jan Koukal (CZE) # 47 in the world, Robin Clarke (CAN) # 75, Regardt Schonborn (RSA) # 85 and more.

Mick Joint will also be attending as well as some others from the DAC. Should be a great weekend of Squash!

Contact Me if you are interested in this event.

Die Hard 2nd Round A Playoff Summary

The A Squash League Playoffs resumed last night. The marquee match up of the night was Shaun Guay against Brian Porter. Porter has had this date marked on his calendar since the early May when the younger Guay pulled off the surprising upset of Porter in the Club Championships. Although the final score of last night’s match (3 to 0) does not reflect how tough it was for Porter to defeat Guay. Two of the games in the match had to go to extra points. Despite this win Porter still has his work cut out for him as will now draw the winner of between Justin Warnock and Andrew Little.

While Guay and Porter battled it out on Court 1 over on Court 2 another interesting match was taking place. The battle of the “Muscle Shirts” between Darin “Doc” Peterson and Mike “Reverse Boast” Wilbur was on and they were in a deadlock clash. Peterson is the new man on the block was looking to make his mark by upsetting the higher seated Wilbur. Peterson was all over the court like a man on a mission with good hard tight shots that forced the match to the fifth game. Although in the fifth game Wilbur made it clear that only one muscle shirt can be in the finals.

Come out on Friday Sept 25/09 for the Finals. Have a Beer and Root on your fellow league players.

Die Hard 1st Round B League Playoff Summary

The B League Playoffs began on Tuesday in Smashing Fashion as many of the young and upcoming players battled it out with some of the veterans of the league for supremacy. Although some of the veteran players were quick to show these young guns that they still have a few things to learn.

Peter Wares showed a young Josh Pinese that he will need to work a little bit harder on his length shots before he can compete with the big boys. Pinese has shown great promise in the last 2 leagues by rising quickly through the ranks. Unfortunately Wares did not want to show him any sympathies on Tuesday by wining 3 games to 1. Wares is determined to win this league.

Two upsets occurred in B2. Bruce “Soft Hands” Jean took down Amanda Sjoberg and James Konrad wrestled a tough win from Jason Delavrier. This sets up a great finals match between Jean and Konrad. The match could go either way. According to the line in Las Vegas they are giving Konrad the 2-1 edge. This finals match will be like a Nadal/ Federer tennis match.

Die Hard 1st Round Playoff Summary

The 1st round action last night was all about PIZZA, BEER and SQUASH.

Konstantin Houbtchev used all the shots in his bag of tricks to take down Chris “Wild Man” Chamandy. Chris was determined to make his mark in A2. As lately Chris feels that his fitness level and shot making ability have never been better. Chris made a bold statement after the tough loss, warning that he will be back in the Fall League to win it all.

Paul “Sinbad” Gebrael has been rising very quickly up the ranks and was eyeing the playoffs as his time to shine. Paul has been playing strong squash on the singles and doubles court. Although Paul unfortunately allowed his emotions to get the better of him last night and struggle to find his winning form. Despite this loss Gebrael warned all competitors that this match was just a warm up for the Fall League.

Mitch Kosovitch pushed himself to a 2-1 game lead before his opponent Justin Warnock turned up his game. Warnock flirted with defeat a couple of times as he closed out Kosovitch in the fifth game. Warnock better be careful in these playoffs as Brian Porter and Shaun Guay are looking to take him down.

New Features to The Fall Squash League

Team Format

1) Every Player in the squash league will be assigned a team.
2) All Players will play their individual matches and be awarded points according to the scoring system.
3) If your match is played on the schedule day each player in the given match will be awarded an additional point. This additional point will only be awarded by the league convener.
4) The points accumulated from a given match will be awarded to your assigned team.
5) The team that accumulates the most points during the course of the league will win the Team Championship.
6) Team points will be posted on the following day of schedule matches. A League – Tuesday – B League Wednesday.
7) If a match is not played on schedule day no additional point will be awarded regardless of circumstances for both players.

Awards

Most Points Accumulated – The person who earns most points during the course of the league.
Most Improved Player – The person who displays the most improvement during the course of the league.
Ray Weldon Award – The player who best displays the spirit, enthusiasm and sportsmanship towards the game of squash during the course of the league.
Rookie of the League – The rookie who earns the most point during the course of the league.
Best Team Name – The team that creates the best team name.

The Growth of Squash In North America

I found this excellent and interesting article other day by popular squash columnist Alan Thatcher about the growth of squash in North America. It was very reassuring to hear that the game of squash is growing. Check it out.
http://www.usopen-squash.com/growing.php

U.S. Open Squash Championship 2009

Amr Shabana (Egypt) defeated current World #1 Ramy Ashour (Egypt) in five games.
Full Results: http://www.psalive.tv/05draws/110180408409sqps364l00001.php

Squash Tips

Check out the Cool video demostration by Mike Way (Jonathon Power's Coach) as he goes over the fundamentals of squash.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uuDRO8SKJ0

Doubles Squash League: The Return