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