The Tournament Season Has Picked Up At WSA

And the Juniors Keep Playing Tournaments…….

The month of October was a very busy month for tournaments. First, we hosted our own Junior Bronze on October 14-15. It was a wonderful weekend of junior play. It was extraordinary watching the kids put their all into each match, diving and sprinting and crashing to the ground. The enthusiasm and excitement were contagious.

WSA had thirteen members participating in this tournament. For some of them, it was the first time competing in a tournament, others simply added to their previous experience. All of them performed well on and off the court. All of them showed great sportsmanship and courtesy. Well done. We are very proud of them all.

We had 6 players in the BU11. Rush Slivjanovski came in #2. He was very poised on the court and ran down everything. Ronan Cheng – Slater had a great tournament. He had a tough 4 game loss to the #1 seed. He really began to feel the court, getting a sense of where the ball was going and the best way to move there. He played 4 matches, 2 wins and 2 losses. Spencer Hammond performed well too. He had a tough first round. Then he won his second in 3 games. The first game was a tight one but he prevailed 12-10. Then he lost in a tight 4 gamer. He won the first game, let down a bit in the second, lost in a tie breaker in the 3rd and lost the 4th. Ignacio Castro had some really tough matches. He won his first one in 5 games, two of them in tie-breakers. Then he lost in 3 and went to the consolations. There he won his first match and then had to play the same boy that he beat in the 1st round in 5 for the finals of the consolations. It was a great match to watch. Both boys played their hearts out. This time Ignacio lost in the 4th but they still had a tie breaker in one of the games! Both Danyial Naeem and Jonah Baron had tough draws. It was fun to watch them improve with each match. It was wonderful to watch them try hard, be great sportsmen and enjoy the sport.

In BU13 we had Charlie Friedman and Aneesh Naresh. Charlie played 4 matches. He won 2 and lost 2.  His first loss was a close one – 5 games with one tie breaker. This was against the #1 seed. His other loss was in 4 games. Nice effort.  Aneesh had a first round win. He did it in 3 games, one of them going to a tie breaker. His next two matches were close but he just couldn’t close it out. He lost in 3 games in the 2nd match, with 2 tie breakers and the next was in 4 games with 1 tie breaker.

In BU15, Austin Kelly and Andrew Felton played. Austin played 4 matches, he too won 2 and lost 2. His wins were well fought, both 4 games and both with a tie breaker. Austin had great concentration in these matches. Andrew Felton played a great tournament. He won his first two matches. He had to dig deep in the second, but he did and put himself into the finals. He came in 2nd in the tournament. Well done!

In GU13 (we had to merge GU11 and GU13), we had Zoe Dichter and Callie Hammond. Zoe did very well. Ultimately, she lost in the consolation finals in a well fought 4 gamer.  She won 3 matches and lost 2.  Callie won the consolation play offs.  She had a couple of tough losses, both of them in 5 games. Unfortunately, she arrived to play her playoff finals and her opponent did not show up. She won by default which is never very satisfying.

Then we had Katie Hennessey in the U17 (we had to merge the U15 with U17). It was not a huge draw but Katie played really well and won! Every match you play with a new opponent makes you better.   Well done.

During that same weekend, there was a Gold Tournament at Dartmouth. Maddox Moxhom played in the BU13. He had a tough first round, losing in 4. Then he played well in the next two rounds in the consolations. Unfortunately, he needed to retire during the semis of the consolation.  Then we had both Mackesy brothers competing in the BU17s. Both played very well. Tyler had a wonderful tournament.  All of his 5 matches were tough. The first round he won in 4, after losing the first game in a tie breaker, he buckled down and won the next 3 with authority. His 2ndmatch he won in 5 games, again losing the first one, then winning the next two but here he faltered and lost the 4th but regains his focus and wins the 5th. His 3rd round he won in 4 games. The semis were a well-played match that he won in 3 games, the last one in a tie breaker. Then it was the finals. Even though he lost in 3 games, each one was close, the last two, tie breakers.

Coulter also had a good tournament. He won the first round in 4. But in the second round he fell in 3. But he dominated in the consolation, winning his next three matches. The semifinals in the consolations was his toughest. He went 5 games. He won the 1st two games but then his opponent changed up his game and won the next two. Coulter figured it out and won the 5th.

Also on this busy tournament weekend, there was a silver tournament at Brunswick School in Greenwich. We had 4 members there and they all did really well. Our first was Emma Lee in the G13s. She came in 2nd, losing the finals in 4 and a tie breaker. It was a tough one. Her first two matches were well fought. She won the 1st round in 4 games and the second in 3 but both were very competitive. Well done!

In BU13 we had both Ben Korengold and James Murphy. Ben played really well that weekend. He dominated in his first two rounds, winning both in 3 games. The he lost to the ultimate winner of the tournament in 5 games with one tie breaker in the semis. It was a tough one. Then he won in 3 games for the playoffs of the main draw, so he placed in 3rd.  James also good first two rounds, winning each in three strong games. Then there were two tough matches. But he placed 4th in the tournament. Strong finish for both boys. 

William Murphy won the BU15! Awesome ---- there is no more to be said. 

The next tournament was the Regionals on the weekend of October 20th. Throughout the country, there are tournaments divided by region. We play in the New York Region which covers all of New York and the northern part of New Jersey. We had seven members participate that weekend.

In BU11 we had Zane Kohn. He did very well by placing second. He had four matches and he won three of them in a definitive manner. The finals were against the Number 1 seed. Though he lost in 3 games in this match, Zane played well --- a well fought match. Great Job!

Ben Korengold participated in the BU13 division. He had a tough first match, losing in 4. He won his next three matches decisively. One match he won 0,0 & 0. That is a really tough way to win. It takes a lot of concentration.

Christopher Laal represented us in the BU15. He played four well fought matches. All of the matches went four games. This is all really good experience.

We had three members in BU17 --- Coulter Mackesy, Anourag Shah and Nicolo Abou Taleb. Anourag played four matches. He won his first on in 5 games. It was a nice hold. Then he lost in the next round in 4 games. In the consolations he won his first round in another five gamer. Unfortunately, he lost the next round in 4. It was a lot of squash over the weekend. Niki played 6 matches. In the main draw he he had two wins and then lost to the boy who eventually won the whole division. Then he had two wins in the consols, very solid wins but lost in the semi-finals of the consolation. It was a good run for him. Coulter had a good tournament. He ultimately came in 2nd, losing to Taha Dinana in the finals.

On the girls’ side of the tournament, we had Emma Lee playing in a division above her age in GU13. She had a tough first round and lost in 5 games. It was a tough loss. Then she went on to win the next round relatively easily but lost in the semi in a tough 4 gamer, with two tie breakers. 

The next tournament our juniors played in was the Greenwich Gold on the weekend of November 3rd.  In BU 11 Zane Kohn won in his first round (8, (6), 3, 8), then he had a couple of tough losses.

In BU 13 Ben Korengold had a nice run; he had two nice wins, both in three games. Then He had two losses, one in three games and one in 4. James Murphy also had a good run - he won his first match in three, then lost. But he had two wins in the consolation – the 2nd one going five games (7,(4), (7), 12,5) and then a tough loss.

In BU 17 we had Justin Barr participating. He had a tough first match, losing in four games. Then he had a great win in the first round of consols: (8), 9, 7, (5), 6). Then he lost the next round.

For the girls, we had Emma Lee playing in GU13. She played very well in an age group up from her actual age. She lost in the first round, won the second and then lost 2 five gamers. It was two tough losses. We also had Katie Hennessey playing in this division. She had a tough first match and she lost in three. Then she won in 4, lost in 4, won in 3 and lost in 3.  It was a great experience for everyone.

Next up is a Bronze Tournament, the weekend of November 11 at Squash Alley in Stamford. In BU11, we have Spencer Hammond and Ronan Cheng-Slater participating. Spencer lost his first match in 3 games but he clearly was figuring out his opponent by the third game because it was a close one. Ronan won his first two matches, both in 3 games but each game was not easy.

Charlie Friedman and Daniel Hochberg represented us in BU 13. Charlie ended up winning the Classic Plate. Congratulations! He won his first round in three games but lost the next. Then in the Classic Plate he wins the next two in three games. Great weekend of play. Daniel had a tough first round win in four long games – 12-10, 11-13, 11-7, 11-6. Then he had two tough matches in a row, losing both in three.

Austin Kelly played in BU15. He lost his first match in four games. Then in his second, he lost in three but clearly improved as the match went on because the games were tight. And then disappointingly, his 3rd opponent defaulted. That is never very fun – you are at tournaments to play squash! 

On the girls’ side, our lone representative was Callie Hammond in GU 13 and she won her division! Congratulations. She won her first match in 4 games. She had lost the third game in a tie-breaker (13-11) and oftentimes it is hard to shake it off and close the match but she did in the 4th – 11-3. Then she wins her next two matches, both in five games. And the most impressive is in both of them, she lost the first two games but she figures out the weaknesses of each opponent and wins the next three. Well done!

Good Luck to everyone in the next tournament.