Adrian Leanza To Face US Junior Mason Ripka For PST Wild Wings Title
from Tour Media
Adrian Leanza, Mohamed Nabil
September 23, 2012 - Adrian Leanza will face Mason Ripka in the finals of the Buffalo Wild Wings Open Sunday at noontime at Club at 800 in Rye Brook, NY.
Leanza is a teaching pro at Fairmount Athletic Club in King of Prussia, PA. He was Brown University's #1 player before turning pro. Last season, he was one of PST's Elite 8 who compete in the PST World Championship.
16 year old Mason Ripka lives in New York City and is one of America's elite juniors. This is his third season playing PST. He grabbed attention in 2010 when became the first junior to compete in a PST tournament. 2012 could be the season be reaches a new plateau.
Semi Final Results
Mason Ripka is on a mission this week in Rye Brook, New York. After a shocking upset earlier in the day in his quarter final match, he backed up his performance with an improved effort to beat Sean Wilkinson in four games during the semi-finals.
Wilkinson began the match and dominated play. He moved Ripka around the court and the young junior was helpless to counter the assault as he fell 11-3.
Game two was a different story. The young American showed resolve in fighting for every point as he leveled the match with an 11-7 victory.
Games three and four showed a seismic shift in momentum as Wilkinson made some unforced errors and Ripka capitalized. Ripka won 11-3 and 11-6 to close out the match.
“I’ve had a couple good months of work over the summer,” Ripka said in post-game remarks. “I’m looking forward to playing Adrian. He’s fit and patient. Look for me to be sniping.”
The second semi-final featured two players who know each other well. Adrian Leanza and Mohamed Nabil last faced one another in the finals of the Boston Open, which Nabil won in a tough five game match.
Today belonged to Leanza though. The tournament’s top seed is regarded as PST’s fittest player and he seemed quite content to extend the rallies in the opening frame. Nabil won game one 13-11, but Leanza was strong. The next three games featured fantastically long rallies and intense play. However Leanza was simply stronger winning 11-4, 11-7, 11-4.
The finals will feature two players with very contrasting approaches to the game. Leanza will extend rallies and wear his opponent down patiently. Ironically, the young American, who is only 16 years old, is a shooter.
PST tournaments feature a third place match before the finals. Match play begins at 11:00 a.m. at Mike Callaway’s Club at 800.
Earlier:
Mason Ripka (USA) upset Shahid Khan (ENG) in the quarter finals of the Buffalo Wild Wings Open. Khan won the opening frame comfortably 11-5. Game two showed Ripka pushing the tempo of play from the outset and he won 11-6 to even the match.
Games three and four were evenly played with each player taking one. Khan won game three 11-7; Ripka took game four 11-9.
Khan made several unforced errors to open game five and Ripka was hitting aggressively and found several winning nicks as he raced to a 9-2 lead. Khan fought back to 9-7. However, Ripka closed out the game and match on the following two rallies.
Khan won PST’s Pyramid Open this past spring. Ripka is one of America’ top junior players and competes regularly in PST tournaments.
In their last meeting, it was Assem Salem who prevailed beating Adrian Leanza in four games in Albany, NY. However Leanza, the top seed in this week’s PST opener, took care of business when he dispatched Egyptian Assem Salem in three games. “Assem keeps you on your toes on court. I can’t really attack against him because he is so aggressive. So, I did a lot of counter punching and fortunately it was enough today.”
Ned Marks was seeded #2 in the tournament. However, he faced an in form Sean Wilkinson on court in the quarter finals. “I wanted longer rallies today because I thought I had a fitness advantage,” said Marks in post game comments. “But Sean never slowed down. He played well and deserved the win.”
Mohamed Nabil needed four games to get past a pesky Sat Seshadri, who is making his PST debut this week.
Quarter Finals Results
Mohamed Nabil beats Sat Seshadri 11-6, 5-11, 11-5, 11-6
Sean Wilkinson beats Ned Marks 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8
Adrian Leanza beats Assem Salem 11-8, 11-7, 11-7
Mason Ripka beats Shahid Khan 5-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7.
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