Champions Crowned In Atlantic Coast Squash Tournament
by Rob Dinerman of DailySquashReport.com
Dateline October 29th --- The courts at the Greate Bay Racquet & Fitness Club in suburban Atlantic City were buzzing with frenetic activity on October 21-22, as several dozen squash players, including a number of national age-group singles champions and a few current top-echelon doubles stars, competed in the modern-era version of the Atlantic Coast Championships. Known for its unique tournament atmosphere during the more than seven decades (from 1930-2001) that it was held on the two iconic courts at the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall Hotel (later renamed Resorts International) just yards from the famed Atlantic City boardwalk – with early-round matches running literally all night and with participants contacted by phone in their hotel rooms an hour before they were due on court --- the tournament was subsequently relocated to this Somers Point, NJ, facility, revived and somewhat revised in recent years, and now serves as a bracing mid-autumn kickoff to the competitive squash season. Entrants came from five different northeastern-corridor states (Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Washington DC) as well as Canada to participate in both doubles and hardball singles (contested on the 80-square-foot wider international-sized courts and with the Austral ball), and it will be interesting to see if some of the unexpected results carry through as the 2011-12 schedule evolves.
In the Open Singles, recent (2010) Yale captain Todd Ruth overpowered Greate Bay member Greg Smallwood while Duncan Pearson did the same to current U. S. 60-and-over champion Tefft Smith. Pearson has played several times in the past few years in the U. S. National Hardball Championships (which his younger brother Eric won three straight times from 2008-10 before losing a close final last February to ISDA star Preston Quick) and his greater familiarity with this form of the sport enabled him to grab a swift two games to love lead in the ensuing final. By the third game, Ruth had adjusted enough to the pace and dimensions to earn a 14-12 advantage, “reading” Pearson’s shots, especially his widely-angled backhand cross-court, much better than before and cutting vastly reducing his tin count. But just as a possibly permanent reversal appeared to be in the making, Pearson was able to come away with the last three points to close out that 15-14 game and snuff out an impending Ruth comeback.
This hard-fought though straight-game victory, the second of the afternoon for Pearson over Ruth (who with partner Smallwood had fallen to Pearson and his partner, three-time U. S. National Doubles champion Rich Sheppard, in the semis), may have exacted a price, however, in its possible influence on the latter stages of the Open Doubles final, which followed the conclusion of the singles match almost immediately. Pearson played some of his best-ever doubles in the third game, which he and Sheppard won handily to take a 2-1 lead over longtime Philadelphia Racquet Club head pro Rob Whitehouse and his former assistant Barney Tanfield (now based at Racquet & Tennis in New York), semifinal straight-game (two one-pointers) winners over two-time (1998 and 2001) Atlantic Coast singles champion Rob Dinerman and his partner, current Greate Bay head pro and ISDA pro doubles tour top-15 Greg Park.
But Whitehouse and Tanfield played with both more energy and urgency in the fourth and fifth games than their opponents, who throughout those 15-11, 15-10 tallies found themselves playing from behind, both territorially and statistically, and were never able to make up either of those deficits. First-round qualifying losers the last time they partnered up, at an ISDA Challenger event this past February, Whitehouse and Tanfield, both of whom have surmounted leg injuries in recent months, have now clearly regained both their health and their top form.
The B singles and doubles draws were dominated by the father/son duo of Chuck Matison, a many-years participant in U. S. Hardball Nationals competition, and his son Scott. Teammates in a victorious run through the five-team round-robin doubles tourney --- including a three-love win over Canadians Norm Gaudette and Bill Brock in what was effectively a final, as both teams were undefeated against the remaining three pairings --- they also opposed each other in the final of the four-player singles event, with the senior Matison grinding through a close second game before losing in four to his understandably better-conditioned son.
This was a most successful way to begin the squash season, for both the players (who with a few matches now under their belts will be ready for the upcoming tournaments) and the host club, which boasts two international courts and two doubles courts, all with glass back walls and gallery seating, and many of whose members and administrators were on hand throughout to cheer the players on and absorb pointers for their own games. Greate Bay will be hosting a hardball tournament on January 20-21, and anyone interested in competing should contact the club at 609-926-9550 to obtain an entry form.
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