U.S. Century Squash Doubles Championship Recap
by Rob Dinerman
Open Champions Martin Heath And Charlie Humber
60’s Champions Rick Wahlstedt and Jonny Smith
70’s Finalists Kush Kumar and John Brazilian, Champions Ryan Mullaney and Sandy Tierney
80’s Champions Pug Winokur and Manek Mathur
A’s Finalists George Polsky and Mitchell Truwitt flank Champions Tzintzun Carranza and Luis De La Brena
Alia Aziz stretches for a backhand in Mixed finals action with Vaughn Schmidt, Giorgio Richelli and Rob Dinerman in foreground
Mixed Champions Vaughn Schmidt and Giorgio Richelli
Open Champions Martin Heath and Charlie Humber flank Tournament Chairman and Founder Kit Tatum
Women’s Champions Shirin Kaufman and Mary Belknap McKee, Finalists Julie Kessler and Beth Fedorowich
Women’s Champions Shirin Kaufman and Mary Belknap McKee
John Brazilian, Ryan Mullaney, Sandy Tierney and Kush Kumar in 70's Finals action
Dateline January 27, 2025
--- Trailing 2-1, 13-all, just two points from losing the A Doubles
final for the second consecutive year to the same opponent, Luis Ortiz
De La Brena and Tzintzun Carranza rescued that game 15-13, then jumped
off to fifth-game leads of 9-3 and 14-6 and held off a late rally to
win 15-10 against the top-seeded defending champions George Polsky
and Mitchell Truwit in the most entertaining of Sunday’s
final-round matches that capped off the 2025 U.S. Century Squash
Doubles Championship. The tournament, which was headquartered as always
at the University Club of New York, officially began in 2008, and to be
eligible to enter, each team’s members are required to have a combined
age of at least 100 years. It has become one of the most popular
tournaments of the entire doubles season, primarily due to the vision
of its creator and initial Tournament Chairman Kit Tatum, who has run
the event every year (with one exception more than a decade ago) from
its inception right to the present time, and whose prolonged (and
ongoing) dedication to this championship resulted in his becoming a
most deserving inductee into the A. Carter Fergusson Grand Master Honor
Roll at this event one year ago. Tatum was ably assisted throughout the
tournament by his Co-Chairs Beth Rasin (who showed amazing staying
power in refereeing almost all of the seven Sunday finals), Dylan
Patterson and Ryan O’Connell.
In the only other final to go the full five
games, the 80-and-over (which remarkably had a full eight-team draw),
Pug Winokur and recent SDA No. 1 Manek Mathur out-lasted the excellent
young Canadian pro Nicholas Trail and compatriot Michael Manley, 15-7
in the fifth. Although both Mathur and Trail showed tremendous
athleticism in covering virtually the entire court, it was Winokur who
delivered the final winner with a shallow backhand drop shot. In the
70-and-over final, which featured an all-University Club of Boston
quartet, Sandy Tierney and Ryan Mullaney successfully defended their
2024 title 3-0 over Kush Kumar (who with partner Adham Madi had
advanced to the quarters of the North American Open a few days earlier)
and John Brazilian.
Former SDA top-12 Jonny Smith, who had been
a pro at the host venue for several years before ascending to his
current position as the head pro at the Union Club in 2008, teamed up
with Rick Wahlstedt to win 15-8, 13 and 13 in the 60-and-over final
over the Atlanta pairing of Aaron Luque and Erik Granade, while Vaughn
Schmidt and Giorgio Richelli rebounded from the loss of the first game
to win the Mixed Doubles final 3-1 over Rob Dinerman and former Yale
two-time All-American Alia Aziz. In their respective semis, Schmidt and
Richelli were down 1-1, 1-6 against Julie and Peter Koenig before
staging a 14-1 streak that carried them through the close-out fourth
game, while Dinerman and Aziz saved a combined four game-balls against
them in their 15-14, 14 and 8 win over Ed Kelly and Annie Wymard, who
had earlier out-played the No.1 seeds Kumar Dasani and Sue
Greene. Shirin Kaufman and Mary Belknap McKee completely
dominated the round-robin Women’s flight, bringing to five the Century
title count for McKee, who had previously won the 2023 and 2024 Women’s
event with her twin sister Berkeley and the 2019 and 2020 Mixed Doubles
with Chris Spahr.
Although the Open final is virtually always
the center-piece of Sunday’s Century Doubles action, this time it was
over after only 17 points. To advance to that round, top seeds Nathan
Dugan (a Century Open winner with Michael Puertas in 2022) and Harrison
Mullin first had to win the last four points from 11-14 down in the
fifth game against Canadians Scott Stoneburgh and David Harris,
following which they played beautifully in a four-game semifinal win
over Morris Clothier (winner of the inaugural 2008 Century Open with
Michael Pierce) and Whitten Morris. In the bottom half, Charlie Humber
and former PSA top-four Martin Heath defeated three-time (2019, 2020
and 2023) Century Open champs Tom Harrity and Chris Walker in the
quarters and Carl Baglio (who won the 2024 Century Open with Jeff
Stanley) and Andrew Slater in a straight-game semifinal. The stage
seemed to be set for an exciting denouement ---- but Dugan spent all of
Sunday morning dealing with the punishing symptoms of an intestinal
virus. He valiantly attempted to play in the mid-afternoon final, but
he was clearly struggling and, after expending his remaining energy in
a grueling all-court point at 5-11 in the first game, he sagged to the
floor, too dehydrated and depleted to continue.
It was a sad and anticlimactic ending to
what nevertheless had been a memorable weekend, both for the
high-quality action that consumed all five of New York City’s doubles
courts --- at the Union Club, Racquet & Tennis, the New York
Athletic Club and Heights Casino, along with the University Club ---
and for the tributes that were paid to a pair of recently-deceased
figures. The 2025 Century tournament was dedicated to Len Bernheimer
--- who won the 2024 80’s flight with Kush Kumar, just 65 days before
he succumbed to pancreatic cancer at age 82 --- and throughout the
weekend Humber wore the headband that Will Hartigan, who passed away
one year ago almost to the day at age 34, wore on his last day. Humber,
who was close friends with Hartigan, noted, “I’ve worn Will’s headband
at key matches since, with his presence and spirit in mind.”
Final-Round Results Summary:
Open: Charlie Humber/Martin Heath d. Nathan Dugan/Harrison Mullin, 12-5, retired (Dugan illness)
A: Luis De La Brena/Tzintzun Carranza d. George Polsky/Mitchell Truwit, 3-2
60’s: Jonny Smith/Rick Wahlstedt d. Aaron Luque/Erik Granade, 3-0
70’s: Sandy Tierney/Ryan Mullaney d. John Brazilian/Kush Kumar, 3-0
80’s: Manek Mathur/Pug Winokur d. Nicholas Trail/Michael Manley, 3-2
Mixed: Vaughn Schmidt/Giorgio Richelli d. Alia Aziz/Rob Dinerman, 3-1
Women’s: Shirin Kaufman/Mary Belknap McKee d. Julie Kessler/Beth Fedorowich, 3-0
