All the matches have been played with the exception of the 4.5 finals. When I get those results from Zack & Asad, I’ll let you know.
Here is my quick recap of the final matches:
2.5 Phil Campbell and Paul Neilsen were flying all over the court – much like many new players to squash. May have been a little dangerous, but as with all of us, the recognition of “lets” and “strokes” will come. A highly competitive match between two players familiar with each other from the Plymouth LifeTime club with Phil winning in 4.
3.0 As with all things Carlos, an entertaining 5 gamer between Amy Heinichen Liss and Carlos Gutierrez in which Amy’s smooth squash shots finally wore down Carlos in the 5th game.
3.5 Another 5 gamer of highly competitive squash between Sandeep Methi and Paul “I’ll play all draws possible” Kriegler. It was a back and forth battle. The highlight was the blind 360 turnaround backhand by Sandeep on the final point of the 5th game to claim victory. The shot definitely wowed the crowd as well as his opponent (and probably Sandeep 
4.0 Kevin Cochran and Doug McFarlane started off the “Round of Finals” with the first match on Sunday at 9. A very well played match with long rallies and great sportsmanship. Doug was able to pull out the victory in 4.
4.5 To be played. Asad Irfanullah rolled his ankle on the final point in winning his semi-final match. Instead of taking a walk-over, Zack Madison agreed to delay the match until Asad has recovered. Again, another sign of the great sportsmanship amongst our group of players!
5.0 Well, this ended up rather anti-climatic but probably appropriate given the evenness of the players. In a nutshell, Dave Baker beat Matt Hildebrand with his terrific ball placement winning over Matt’s quickness and power. This match score was 3-1. Tomas Gutierrez had previously beaten Dave in a 3-2 pressure cooker. Then on Sunday, Matt came back for revenge and took down the equally as speedy Tomas as they battled through long rallies until Matt prevailed 3-1. In the end, Dave, Matt and Tomas all ended up 3 and 1 in the Round Robin format of 5 players. However, since Dave only lost 3-2 while Tomas and Matt lost 3-1, Dave was declared the winner of the 5.0′s! And because Matt had beaten Tomas head to head, Matt was declared the finalist. Great squash by all the contestants and gives us all an idea on what we need to do in order to improve.
50+ A very tough division. Many of these guys could be very competitive in the skill level draws. In a battle of Bill Johnson’s power and tight rails versus Wayne Miller’s cut-off drops and deception, Wayne was able to pull the upset and won in 4 over Bill.
60+ Another match that should have been seen by more at 9:45 on a Sunday. Here we had two 60 plussers trading squash rails for long drawn out points and covering the court as graceful two dancers. In the end, Bob Casey prevailed over John Stever in 4. A true treat to see these guys in action.
60+ Hardball Doubles Here again, you would be amazed at how much court these guys can cover. I have been told that Roger Jensen has been perfecting his serve for so long, that it is impossible to return. That said, the favorites in this draw, Stephen Gadient and Roger Jensen prevailed over David Gregerson and Fred Speece in 5. If you didn’t see the Doubles action during this tournament, you really should check it out on April 28 – May 1 at the Commodore.
Softball Open Doubles A new draw for this year’s State Championships. In a hard fought battle, Will Hartigan and Arturo Manzur were able to upend Tedd Hoyt and Jeff Ali with the final two games going to a tie breaker.
