Cross Border Challenge - September 16, 2017
The one thing that I didn’t see much of this Saturday was
the abundance of the Stars and Stripes, our players enveloping themselves in
their patriotic colors as if the Old Glory had vomited all over them. There was
the odd spattering of the red, white and blue, but nothing like we had a few
years ago when a large percentage of the team actually purchased specific
uniforms that were beyond reproach. It was beautiful. While our gear didn’t
scream “U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!”, our racquets did.
A healthy crew of 24 DAC members were matched up against
their Windsor counterparts - who, by the way, also lacked an appreciable amount
of their national pride. Where were their faithful “Maple Leafs…?” - and at 2pm
sharp matches were underway.
In probably the fastest recorded result in Cross Border
history, before the players on court 7 had even warmed the ball up to match
playing standard, Chris Laenen was standing next to me, beer in hand,
reporting his 3-0 win. Well, that was a good start for us, although I did feel
a little sympathy for his opponent…
… a quick side note here. Mis-matches are inevitable in a
competition such as this (think “Farris Cup”!). I work together with Windsor’s
head pro Graeme Williams and we try our hardest to make all the matches as even
as possible. Unfortunately, it’s not possible. We do get it wrong on
occasion. We had 21 matches played this day. I would prefer that one club win
all 21 matches, but have every one of them go the full 5-set distance, than
have an 11-10 match result but all scores being a 3-0 whitewash. I apologize to
those few who were affected, but don’t be discouraged and we hope to see you
back again…!
Josh Gershonowicz took a little more time than Chris,
but he took all three games to hand us our second victory of the day. Then it
was Ian Edwards’ turn, but his voyage to the finishing line was a whole
lot harder. His opponent put up plenty of resistance but Ian held firm in the
5th to take the 3-2. Scott Beals was next in line and I thank him for
stepping in last minute to replace Nacho de la Torre Libre who
was called up for an out of state grappling bout somewhere down south. Scott’s
opponent was also a last minute replacement and was up for double duty. Steve
Allen had to go back-to-back so he really didn’t want to spend too much
time on court with Scott and was pleased he got away with the 3-0 win before
having to tackle Zac MacVoy immediately afterwards.
It was the closest match of the day, and a doozy. Looking
at the protagonists, one would discern that Steve was the runner, Zac would
need to be the shot maker. But Zac is remarkably mobile for a big dude, he
impresses me every time he starts motoring around the court. I also hold my
breath hoping he doesn’t run into (through) the glass back wall, and I also keep
those two paddles nest to the trophy cabinet amped up just in case… Deep into
the 5th game, getting into the business end of the tie-break, it was Steve who
looked like the player in charge and Zac was simply trying to hang on. And Zac
hung on for a while, saving a couple of match balls, but never actually getting
a match ball of his own. Steve pulled out the 13-11 in the 5th win!
In the round of 2.45pm singles matches (which included
Steve and Zac), the Windsor team stepped up and took three of the four results.
Our lone victor was Mike Zukas. At this stage, the two clubs had split
the singles results 4-4. So what about the 2 doubles matches up to that point?
We split them too. Shail Arora and Bruce Shaw
were shaky at best, and struggled to find any consistency against the
experienced husband and wife team of Janice and Herb Funkenhauser.
Janice and Herb took full advantage and all three games. The other doubles match
was a lot tighter, although it wasn’t exactly an epic encounter. John
Dunwoody and Vikram Chopra started off their campaign like Shail and
Bruce - all over the map. Mistakes and mis-hits seemed to be the norm for the
first 2 games before the pair got their bearings on the proper track. The next
three games went their way, a 3-2 win that they will be pleased just to get
away with.
5 matches apiece.
There were 11 matches left, and it was at this point the
DAC seemed to think enough was enough, time to bury this bad boy. The next
round of matches all fell our way. Han Peng must have sweat out half his
body weight after his 11-9 in the 5th win against a veteran, very British
gentleman with an accent more fit for the Queen, who has been playing squash
longer than I have. JC Tibbitts had to deal with another Funkenhauser
(Ron) who spent a great deal of his time sprawled across the court floor as
he continuously dived for ball after ball. Spectacular to watch, top-notch
entertainment to say the least, but not a winning strategy. JC won 3-1. Ryan
MacVoy kept to the simple patient tactic of good length before utilizing
the short court well. A very nice 3-0 win for him.
Steve Brown also put up a commendable
performance. The first game loss was due to forcing the ball too short too
soon, so he changed that mentality for the next three games and was able to use
those soft hands of his more effectively. A great 3-1 victory, celebrated with
a cool energy drink… umm, I mean a scotch.
Donald Trump was wrong. He said once that he would win so
much, we would get bored with winning. Winning never gets boring. Piling
on the pain, we quickly put the day out of reach. Brian Ellison, Sante
Fratarcangeli, David Zack, all won 3-0. The third doubles of the day
- Chato Hill / Steve Murphy - walked off with a 3-1 triumph as well.
There were 2 matches to complete, but we had the 13-6
unassailable lead. That doesn’t meant the last two matches weren’t fiercely
competed. Of course, that goes without saying when Paul Gebrael is
involved. “Fierce” and “competition” are indiscernible in his case - an
important quality for any squash player. Ryan Covell had the task of
taming him and he did a pretty good job in the first game. Although I did fear
a little for my life when I unwisely gave my opinion on a ‘let’ call / tin,
that may have poked the bear a bit too much. Paul came out in the second game,
started serving the ball with every intent of trying to make our front wall
collapse, and increased the pressure on Ryan significantly. Paul took the next
3 games, and thankfully no humans were harmed in the process. I don’t mean to
give Paul a hard time - he was the perfect sportsman, the match was played with
no controversy all.
The final contest of the day was another 5-setter. Paul
Ward hasn’t played a lot over the summer, but the rust didn’t appear to
show that much. Doug Fields is an awkward leftie, effective with low
hard angles, and can scurry around the court rather well. As the 5th game was
under way, I felt that Paul held the upper hand with the comparative fitness
levels and he did get off to the quicker start. There is nothing worse, I find,
than to have a bad start in a 5th game. Catch-up when you are tired is a
desperation situation and that - more times than not - doesn’t end well. And it
didn’t for Doug. Paul maintained the healthy lead and took the match. We ended
up a 14 match to 7 win.
Now, if was I paying attention a little more, I would have
made a bigger deal that this was the 20th Cross Border Challenge between
the 2 clubs. After our victory today, the overall score stands at DAC - 9,
Windsor - 11. The next one is - for now - scheduled for April in Windsor, (if
our calendars allow it). The trophy stays in our cabinet. Looks like a good
home for it.
