The Los Angeles Athletic Club "Backs The Bid" for Squash 2020
by Bob Hanscom
July 23, 2012 - The Los Angeles Athletic Club, home of the EBG, CB Richard Ellis, Clash of the Female Titans, the North American Invitational and KIG LA Opens, hosted their annual in-house club championships under the direction of club squash professional JP Rothie.
The event featured over 60 men, women, boys and girls competing in twelve different divisions: junior boys under 15; junior girls under 17; Women's Open; and ratings from 3.0 to 6.0 Open. This year's theme was in support of the 2020 Squash Back The Bid campaign for having squash become part of the 2020 Olympic Games.
To be sure, many exciting squash matches took place over the three-day weekend, with the results as follows:
Beginning with the under 15 junior boys round-robin, it was Luke McKenna outscoring Pranav Law, Ian Rowe, Bryson Moore and Iman Tirmizi with total points of 12, 9, 6, 3 and 0 respectively.
In the junior girls under 17, it was Sahar Tirmizi outscoring Alexandra Rowe and Ellie Bartis with a point total of 6, 3 and 0 respectively.
The women's 3.0 was won by Sahar Tirmizi in a three-game final over Eva Franco, 11/9, 11/6, 11/3. Others in this division were: Alexandra Rowe and Sara Rotman.
The Women's Open saw former Harvard University varsity player and intercollegiate national champion Ivy Pochoda sweep through the draw without dropping a game, taking out Susie Lynch in the final, 11/4, 11/4, 11/7. Others in this draw included: Alexandra Rowe; Lydia Tackett; Sahar Tirmizi; Mimi Munson; Eva Franco and Sara Rotman.
The 2.5 division was won by Gabe Weaver over Ian Rowe in a three-game final, 11/1, 11/4, 11/1. Others entered in this division included: Sara Rotman; Jack Hovsepian; Justin Hopkins; Sarkis Vartarian and Iman Tirmzi.
In the 3.0 division, it was Ryan Ranson winning the final is three games over Alec Kouyoumjdian 11/7, 11/6, 11/7. Other LAAC members in this draw included: Alex Scherman; Gabe Weaver; Conor McKenna; Jack Hovsepian; Jason McCabe; Johnny Duda; Justin Hopkins; Ian Rowe; Sarkis Vartarian; Bryson Moore; Iman Tirmizi and Roger Steinbeck.
In the 3.5 division, it was Susie Lynch taking the three-game final over Mimi Munson, 11/6, 11/4, 11/4. Others in this draw included Christian Page and Mitchell Guthman.
In the 4.0 division, it was Bob Hanscom winning the final in three-games over Roddy Bottum, 11/3, 11/9, 11/7. Others in the draw included: Mimi Munson; Christian Page; Simon Black; Susie Lynch; Justin Howell and Mitchell Guthman.
In the 4.5 division, it was Asish Law taking the final in three straight games over Bob Hanscom, 11/5, 11/7, 11/6. Others in the division included: Chris Bryan; Nigel Williams; Richard Irving; Alan Yuille and Alex Scherman.
In the 5.0 draw, the largest of the tournament, it was Ted Perkins taking the final over Omar Tirmizi in three hard-fought games, 11/7, 11/8, 12/10! Others entered in this draw were: Chris Bryan; Carl Parker; Neil Kritzinger; Nigel Williams; Richard Irving; Vijay Prasad; Ted Perkins; Bob Hanscom; Alan Yuille; Asish Law; Glenn Mah and Shyam Menon.
In the one and a half-hour very tough five-game 5.5 division final match, it was Chris Kao deafeating Maurizio Mazzocco, 16/13, 11/7, 8/11, 8/11, 11/9. Completing this draw were: Vijay Freeman; Omar Tirmizi; Glenn Mah and Shyam Menon.
There's no doubt that the much-anticipated finals of the 6.0 Open club championships, (which was viewed by a full gallery), was the most exciting match of day. It was between the two talented left-handers, club squash professional JP Rothie and event sponsor, Ronen Goldberg.
The first game was won by JP in extra points, 12/10. In the second, it was Ronen coming back to win, 11/9. Ronen repeated and won the third, 11/8. In the fourth game, it was JP taking over more decisively, 11/6. Was Ronen getting tired – and did JP finally have the advantage? Not quite, as the long fifth game see-sawed back and forth right up to the score-line of 9 all! The next rally ended in a very difficult call for referee Ivy Pochoda, which went in Ronen's favor of a “no-let” decision for JP's request for a let, making the score 10/9, match ball for Ronen, which he was finally able to convert for the win.
Others in the this divison included: Vijay Freeman; Shyam Menon; Andre' Bossier; Maurizzio Mazzocco; Ivy Pochoda; Omar Tirmizi; and Glenn Mah. Boissier won the 6.0 division ¾ playoff over Pochoda in four games, 11/9, 11/9, 9/11, 11/9.
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