ISDA Update: Top Two Seeds Mudge/Gould And Mathur/Leach Advance To Tompkins Invitational Final
By Rob Dinerman, for DailySquashReport.com
Dateline February 12th, 2012 – Trailing one game to love against a Jonny Smith/Preston Quick duo that was still riding the momentum of their thrilling 15-13 fifth-game quarterfinal victory over John Russell and Greg Park (on a stroke call against Russell at match-ball) the night before, top seeds Damien Mudge and Ben Gould convincingly asserted themselves throughout the three ensuing games Sunday afternoon in the semifinals of the Tompkins Invitational, held as always at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia. Mudge and Gould will face second seeds Manek Mathur and Clive Leach, semifinal winners in four over Chris Walker and Mark Chaloner, in the final on Monday evening.
Named in honor of Fred Tompkins, the head pro of the host club from 1904-1936 who is credited with having invented squash doubles during his three-plus decades of service at the Racquet Club, the tournament’s initial three editions (from 2009-2011) as an ISDA stop had been as a Challenger event before the expansion this season to full-ranking status, a tribute to the determination of Tournament Chair Jon Noel and his Committee, as well as the efforts of the club’s longtime head pro Rob Whitehouse and a slew of sponsors led by Brown Brothers Harriman. The electric atmosphere that has pervaded the gallery all weekend (seats to the final are already completely sold out) bears eloquent testimony to the wisdom of this decision, and every round, beginning right from the first-round qualifying Friday night, had correspondingly had at least one five-game match prior to the semis, which might have had a fifth game as well were it not for the manner in which Mathur and Leach, having lost the third game against Walker/Chaloner and trailing 12-7 in the fourth, ran off seven straight points to get to 14-12, match-ball, upon which Mathur lashed a drive at Chaloner’s backhand that had too much pace for the latter to handle.
So after three different final-round opponents for Mudge/Gould in as many calendar 2012 ISDA events --- namely Mathur/Leach in Boston in mid-January, Matt Jenson/Yvain Badan one week later in Greenwich, and Smith/Park last week in Cleveland, with both of the last two finalist teams having defeated Mathur/Leach in those respective semis --- there will be a repeat final-round opponent for Mudge and Gould Monday night (one coming off an 8-0 match-closing run no less, and now a more solidly integrated unit in this, their fourth appearance as partners), which should make for a fitting conclusion to what has already been a captivating squash-doubles weekend in downtown Philadelphia.
Semis Recap: Damien Mudge/Ben Gould d. Jonny Smith/Preston Quick, 12-15 15-8 15-11 15-7; Manek Mathur/Clive Leach d. Chris Walker/Mark Chaloner, 15-8 15-9 11-15 15-12.
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