Manek Mathur And Narelle Krizek Capture U. S. Mixed Doubles Title
by Rob Dinerman, for DailySquashReport.com
Dateline April 29th, 2012 --- Frustrated semifinalists in this tournament two years ago when their fifth-game 14-12 double-match-ball advantage dissolved into a 17-15 defeat against eventual champs Steve Scharff and Natalie Grainger, top seeds (and former Field Club of Greenwich colleagues) Manek Mathur and Narelle Krizek fully redeemed that disappointment earlier today with a 15-4 15-13 9-15 15-12 victory over Suzie Pierrepont and Greg McArthur in the final round of the U. S. Mixed Doubles Championship, held at the Philadelphia Country Club. Mathur, a rising superstar on the ISDA pro doubles tour who partnered former mid-2000’s Trinity College teammate Yvain Badan to the Briggs Cup crown four and a half months ago, thereby became the 12th different male winner in the last 12 holdings of this tournament, while Krizek, who previously earned this title in 2007 with Paul Price and 2008 with Dave Rosen (and who with husband Rob Krizek lost the 2004 final on simultaneous-championship-point against James and Steph Hewitt), is the only woman to win this event more than once since Keen Butcher and Demer Holleran completed their run of six straight from 1994-2000 (they also won in 2002).
Krizek and Pierrepont, partners as winners of the 2009 Turner Cup (the top prize-money stop on the WDSA women’s pro doubles tour), the 2010 U. S. National Doubles, the 2011 Players Championship and their round-of-16 match against Tim Wyant and Julian Illingworth in a high-end MEN’S invitational at the New York Athletic Club just last month, became opponents in this afternoon’s final when Krizek and Mathur straight-gamed Trevor McGuinness (who won this tourney with Pierrepont three years ago) and Jessica DiMauro in one semifinal while Pierrepont and McArthur were prevailing in a close four games (15-13 13-15 15-9 15-12) against the second-seeded Quick siblings, 2006 U. S. Mixed Doubles champs Preston and Meredeth, in the other. All four quarterfinals went the three-game minimum, Mathur/Krizek over Jacques Swanepoel and Kelsey Engman, McGuinness/DiMauro over fourth seeds Wyant and Emily Lungstrum, Pierrepont/McArthur over Mark Price and Carrie Hastings and the Quicks over Sarah West and Dent Wilkens.
The 40-and-over flight was a four-team round-robin in which today’s match pitting Ed Chilton and Holleran (who won in four games) against Dave Rosen and Amy Milanek effectively became a final since both teams were 2-0 after Saturday’s play. In the 50’s, Joyce Davenport, 70(!), and Alan Grant recorded straight-set victories both in their semifinal with second seeds Molly Pierce and James Heldring, and in their anticlimactic 15-8, 8 and 9 final this morning with Vaughn Schmidt and Ken Pollack, who had advanced to that stage with an unexpected five-game semis win over top seeds Andy Nehrbas and Jody Law. There was also a B-level competition, which was won by Jeff Welsh and Leigh Wood, who took their final with Arden Saligman and Tony Soslow, three games to love.
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