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November 14-18, 2007
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The Indian Summer Tournament, Minnesota's oldest and largest squash tournament, was held at the Commodore Squash Club in St. Paul, MN, November 14-18, 2007. Planning for the tournament began shortly after the 2006 Indian Summer concluded, when Commodore Member Greg Krueger wrote an encouraging letter to all the Members. He proposed that: " we get our heads around the concept of the Indian Summer Tournament as 'our tournament' ". Already the "largest event in Minnesota squash", he believed that this special tournament could become bigger, better, and even more fun with additional club volunteers involved. Rallying to his call, a 2007 Tournament Committee formed composed of Rod Squires, Gerry Strauss, Ernie Steck, James Narr, Charlie Mahar, Emily Hunsicker, Charlie Silverson, and Greg Krueger as Tournament Committee Chairman.
One goal of the Committee was to provide housing for all the Out of Town players. Thanks to the ongoing enthusiasm of our Canadian neighbors to the North, and players willing to come from Boston, Chicago, New York, Tulsa, West Virginia and Iowa, the Committee wanted to accommodate everyone traveling from afar. A second goal was to organize a lovely catered dinner, free of charge for Out of Towners, at the gorgeous Tomy and Alvina O'Brien home on Saturday night. The dinner was a stunning success, complete with live classical music, fine wine, and lovely toasts. Another Committee idea, hotly contested by one squash club owner, was to introduce beautiful tournament towels as a notable departure from the traditional t-shirt. During the tournament itself, volunteers provided towels, set up bar, greeted players, and spent many hours refereeing doubles. Never has the Tournament Chair received so much help, and what a difference it made!
One hundred and three matches played out as eighty-eight squash enthusiasts converged at the Commodore over the long November weekend. Two-time defending singles champion Darrell Cole of Fort Frances, Ontario, returned in search of his third consecutive singles title. With Minnesota's two highest ranked players, Todd Underhill and Jay del Carmen, unable to participate this year, it appeared Darrell would have an easy romp through the final. However, in a very tough semi, surging Commodore member Tony Lusiba won the first two games, and pressed Darrell to 7-9 in the fifth. Tony's power and conditioning have improved considerably over the past year, and he has turned into one of Minnesota's best players. Reflecting on the match afterward, Darrell commented that his battle with Tony was absolutely thrilling, especially coming back from the deep two game deficit.
Winning his third title, however, would elude Darrell. In the A Final, newcomer Imran Nasir of Chicago dispatched Darrell in three short games. Imran, holding the racquet low, and using very little back swing, was able to snap Darrell about the court with surprising power. The buzz in the gallery had been that Imran would handle Darrell convincingly, though one would not have guessed watching Imran's friendly earlier rounds. Like many top players, Imran's unassuming nature on and off the court belied a very tough competitor when presented with a skilled opponent. Still, Darrell felt he might have had a better chance had he focused on playing longer rallies. Darrell showed real class and the true heart of a champion returning to St. Paul having been center stage in an unfortunate glasses controversy in 2006. We were all very happy he and his wonderful father made the long trip. Special thanks are do Charlie Silverson for housing them next door. Both Darrell and Imran plan to return in 2008 for a rematch, and each pledges to bring 10 friends! With 20 more players also considering coming from Winnipeg, the 2008 could be humungous.
Rob Hensel and Bob Massey won their 13th Indian Summer A Doubles tournament. Many years will pass before that record is ever challenged. National Champions in the Over 50's last year, and current State Champions as well, they were clearly the team to beat. Frank Fairman and John Lonnquist, mostly recovered from nagging injuries, came very, very close. Down two games, at 14 all in the third, Fairman/Lonnquist called a gutsy "no set" overtime. Whoever won the next point would win the game. After a ferocious rally, Frank hit the shot of the match, ripping a three wall from near the T, finding the nick with Rob Hensel "right there". Anything but a dead roll and the match would have been over. No player was more elated than Rob, who fully appreciated the spectacular shot. The gallery, however, had had enough, and during the break, vanished. Too bad, because the match only got better. Bob Massey, switching racquets at the start of the fifth, surprised himself hitting a winning rail somewhat accidentally. He then followed up with two deliberate winners. The strong start proved enough to put the match away.
Two very interesting Doubles Refereeing Issues came up this tournament. The first had to do with the new Turning Rule. By and large, the new rule worked surprisingly well, with no serious injuries. However, referees were instructed that the turning player must declare "early" that he/she was turning. That requirement is not, in fact, part of the official rule, but it ought to be. Some players felt only A level players should have to abide by the new rule: that lower level players essentially are not to be trusted. Others considered the new rule absolutely ridiculous and dangerous. Everyone would agree, however, that rules encouraging people to turn and hit the ball liven up the game considerably!
A second issue had to do with the situation where one man hits a crosscourt, and his partner is in the way of a reverse corner. Normally, in a repeat situation, this would result in a stroke to striker. Implied is that the obstructing player could have gotten out of the way, and did not. In this particular case, both left wall players were routinely well in front of the service line, and the cross-courts were blasted so hard it was nearly impossible for the partner to clear in time. No excuse, ruled the referee. If the partner wants to take such a forward position, he needs to bear the consequences. Blocking the blast into the reverse corner was the logical, though tricky, winning shot. Without doubt, the offending player had a very strong argument, suggesting that additional warnings were merited before "stroke" was awarded, but with firm line judges backing the certified doubles referee, he was out of luck.
Great doubles matches were not restricted to the top divisions. Krueger/Koalska who bumped up to play in the A Doubles, almost defeated Ferris/McCarthy, but lost 15-12 in the fifth. John Mullin, teaming with his Chicago friend Imran, won the highly entertaining B Doubles draw, with Imran learning the game on the fly. They had a narrow escape in the semis against Battisto/Wirth, and then barely beat the father/son team of Reames/Reames. Scott/Scanlon also had chances in the final, but Scanlon's push drop shot, which helped get his team so far, completely abandoned him. Baffled, he kept trying to make the shot work when he clearly should have switched to "plan B". A second father/son team, Gutierrez/Gutierrez won the C Doubles, with younger Tomas chasing down every ball and creaming it. The challenge for finalists O'Brien/Beer (a great combination) was to hit the ball where Tomas was not: but he was everywhere! Other great additions to the eleven teams C Draw were MacDonald/Stenquist and Burke/Mathews, talented tennis professionals jumping in to the tournament for the fun of it. In the full Over 50 Draw, Hensel/Scall were simply too tough for the other teams. Finalists Thaemert/Jensen were scratching their heads afterwards, not sure at all what they could have done differently. Congratulations to Rob Hensel for winning in two events.
Rather than having smaller draws based on the currently in vogue numerical ratings system, the Tournament Director elected to have old fashioned A, B, and C divisions, with drop down second round consolations for the bigger events. Though a bit of a surprise to Lief Erickson, who drew Imran in the first round, the larger draws turned out to be great fun for everyone. Lief later confided it was a real thrill to be on court with such a fine player. Winning the consolation final against Pat O'Shea, he felt like he had had a super duper overall experience. The B Draw winner was the very talented James Narr, who, though somewhat new to squash, is showing terrific skills on court. Watch out for this young man, who has the makings of a state champion. Bostonian Tom Allen, playing in his first Indian Summer, won two games handily, the second by a convincing 9-0, but then folded to Matt Hildebrand like a wet suit wedged into an overhead flight bin. Later, when scrubbing up pots and pans at the end of the tournament, he admitted he "got a little tired". Promising to return next year, and happy to have played much more squash than expected, Tom had a grand time. He, like many of the out of towners, jumped in to a doubles draw for the first time in his life, and put up a great fight with volunteer Ernie Steck. Thanks Tom, for making the trip, and cleaning all those dishes!
The winner of the C Draw was Tushar Garg, who nearly abandoned the tournament when he discovered the cost was $25 more than expected. When he came in, he had not understood that John Stever was helping some of the U of M players with the entry fee. That important information had not been passed along to the front desk either. Fortunately, John Stever, ("the man") soon appeared with some of his Squash Scholar kids, and everything neatly sorted out. Good for John for helping encourage new players to the game, young and old. Tushar had a streaky semi win over beer sponsor Ben Ransom, and then managed to overwhelm a tuckered out Carlos Gutierrez in the final. Carlos used up his gas playing a fun five gamer against wily septuagenarian George Anderson, who was playing his first squash tournament in years.
During the weekend, Tomy O'Brien Sr., the founder of the Commodore Squash Club, and Minnesota's biggest squash fan, learned he had lung cancer, which had spread throughout his entire body. Having battled Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis for four years, the cancer was a new and devastating development. Sadly, Tomy was to pass away within one month of the 2007 Indian Summer Tournament. Despite his illness, throughout the tournament Tomy could be seen watching his beloved doubles from his traditional perch by the wall, where he will be an Honorary Line Judge of final appeal for as long as the club stands. Thank you, Tomy, for everything.
Special thanks as well to our many generous sponsors who helped make this tournament extra special: Herb Lewis, Larry and Terry Hendrickson (the "bruise brothers"), Bill Scott, Carlos Gutierrez, Ben Ransom, Dave Mathews, and Tomy and Alvina O'Brien. Terry Hall and Bob Massey of the Minneapolis Club also deserve special thanks for opening up their doubles court for extra play, and so does classy Steve Gadient for buying the fabulous dinner wine despite being away from town himself.
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