US Coach Paul Assaiante's Final World Teams Report by Paul Assaiante, Head National Coach June 16, 2013 - The US men finished the tournament with a 2-0 loss to Canada to finish number 12 in the world.
At first glance this might seem to be a disappointing finish, but in
fact I feel that this team did as well as it could after losing the
service of Julian on day one.
Every team is strong and rest is such a critical part of negotiating
the event. One must find ways to give people a chance for
recovery so that strategically you have a chance in the next round.
For instance, last night Egypt rested Ramy Ashour, world #1, against
Australia. France and England played until 2am at full strength in a
brutal match. This could have had a big impact on the finals.
At any rate without Julian we were flat out every day. We were in position to win against Germany when the injury occurred.
We played a great match against Scotland but ran out of steam.
Today against Canada, Gilly played against a rested David
Letourneau. An all-Ivy match!! Gilly lost 11-9 in the fifth
game, and finished with five wins and just one loss in the event.
In the next match Gordo played against Shaun Delierre. Shaun is
ranked slightly higher than Chris and is brutal to play because he is a
great athlete but also plays the body. This means there are too
many lets, which can really get on a players nerves, especially one who
has had no rest.
The first game lasted 38 minutes and was just riddled with lets. Game
to Gordon. Chris kept his composure had a game ball in the
second, but it slipped away 1-1. Game three was a lopsided affair
that went to the Canadian. Game four was a war with the referees
really controlling things and making odd calls both ways. At 7-7
a let was called against Chris which may have been a no let, but a
stroke was given to Canada. This was a big decision especially
since Chris was exhausted physically and mentally. Fourth game to
Canada 11-8.
In review I wish to share my views as U S coach.
I could not be more proud of our guys.
Chris Gordon is no flash in a pan and can truly give the top boys all they can handle. As a rule he beats people he should beat.
Julian is still an elite player. He just had a tough break here.
Gilly is amazing. He is playing far better today than he was two years ago when he was playing much more full time.
Dylan is an amazing talent and can be as good as he wants. It
will be interesting to see how he balances squash and a Harvard
education.
Back home we have Todd Harrity and Chris Hanson, both who have just turned pro.
We also have Graham Basset, Faraz Khan and David Ramsden-Wood in the queue, and a very exciting group of juniors.
So the men’s squash team seems to be healthy for some time to come.
Special thanks to Kevin Klipstein, Rich Wade, Conor O’Malley and Jeremy
Mayer for their hard work, and Chris Walker who helped in the lead up!
Coach
11th place play-off: [15] CANADA bt [11] USA 2/0
David Letourneau beat Gilly Lane 8-11, 11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 (66m)
Shawn Delierre beat Christopher Gordon 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5 (75m)
