"MARATHON MAN" LAVIGNE WINS IN NORTH VANCOUVER
Paul Marley reports from Evergreen

And you thought squash was more of a sprint!!!!

Renan Lavigne, the #1 seed from France, edged Joey Barrington, the #2 seed from England, 3-2 in 110 minutes in the finals of the North Shore Credit Union/Comfort Inn Open played at the Evergreen Squash Club in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Lavigne took the first game 11-5 in a relatively quick 12 minutes that gave no indication of how the rest of the match was to be played as none of the subsequent games took less than 20 minutes.

Lavigne took the second game 12-10 in 26 minutes as both players reached deep to try to discover weaknesses in the other. The game see-sawed back and forth so much that neither player was ahead by more than a single point until Lavigne won the tiebreaker.

Barrington attempted to shift the momentum in the 20 minute third game but could not gain more than a 1 point lead until the final two points to win 11-9. You can imagine how gruelling the pace was for the players as they duelled primarily on the backhand, with length being the primary shot.

Finally, in the fourth, Barrington grabbed some momentum and won the first two points, followed by Lavigne winning the next three, Barrington the next five before taking the 11-6 win in 20 minutes. The packed gallery was exhausted, let alone the players.

The final game, which took 24 minutes, saw Barrington roaring out to a convincing 7-3 lead only to see the very gritty, focused Lavigne inch his way back to a 9-7 deficit and then winning the final four points for the victory.

The consensus seemed to be that we had witnessed squash at its finest. Beautiful strokes, unfathomable fitness, momentum shifts and genuine sportsmanship evidenced throughout the match.

The PSA has every reason to be proud of these young men, not only Messrs Lavigne & Barrington, but all the PSA players who participated in this year's tournament - and our 2005 event as well. Their conduct was exemplary and it was a pleasure to have them participate in our squash community. We can hardly wait for next year.

Now, maybe the rest of us should get moving on that New Year's "fitness" resolution!!!!

Evergreen Squash Club

DRAW & RESULTS

SEEDS FLOURISH IN
NORTH SHORE SEMIS
Paul Marley reports from North Vancouver

And it wasn't because of the rain ...

#1 seed, Renan Lavigne, and #2 seed, Joey Barrington, both advanced to tomorrow's final with 3-0 victories in the North Shore Credit Union/Comfort Inn Open being played at the Evergreen Squash Club in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

In the first semi the clock struck midnight for Simon Rosner, the very popular 18 year old German star, who has delighted the crowds with his run from deep in the qualifying rounds to the semis. He went down to Lavigne in
a 32 minute match that was better than the score or time indicated. Unforced errors and the physical result of playing his 5th match in as many days left him vulnerable to the more experienced, and much steadier, Lavigne.

In the second semi Barrington and #5 seed, Eric Galvez,
excited the crowd with a wonderful exhibition of lengthy rallies and nick searching strokes in a 42 minute match. Again, unforced errors were a factor in this match but, it must be said, that Barrington did a wonderful job of keeping the pressure on at all times in all areas of the court.

So, the final between Lavigne and Barrington pits the #1 & #2 seeds against each other at 1:30pm tomorrow afternoon and our squash community can hardly wait.

And the weather report, you ask - dry for the 1st time since 2001, it seems.

Evergreen Squash Club

DRAW & RESULTS

There was some talk going around of a clash styles with Rosner demonstrating in previous matches devastating overhead nicks when the opportunity arises against a solid grinding athlete in Renan.

However it  became more one sided as Renan proved too solid on the day, never releasing any pressure and forcing many unforced errors from Rosner. Renan has played impressively consistently all event and Rosner had a great tournament though just fired on one less cylinder today ... but his smile never changes!

The final
The final will be a interesting match up with both finalists playing too consistently so far in the event to deserve to lose.

This match will come to who wants it the most and who is prepared to find that extra gear when it's needed! Whatever the case a great match will be surely produced!

"ROSNER ROCKS" FROM QUALIFIER TO SEMIS
Paul Marley reports from North Vancouver

In an evening where three matches went according to the rankings and all matches were 3-0, Simon Rosner, the rising young German star, beat fellow qualifier Paul Davisof Australia in quarter final play at the 2006 North Shore Credit Union/Comfort Inn Open being held at the Evergreen Squash Club in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Young Rosner, only 18, created the biggest story as he gained a semi final berth having started the tournament in the 8th qualifier spot. Using his height to great advantage he seemed to constantly keep the pressure on the very likeable Davis throughout the match and emerged with a well earned 3-0 victory.

As the seedings would suggest, #1 seed Renan Lavigne (Fra) advanced over the #8 seed Bradley Hindle (Aus), Eric Galvez (Mex), the #5 seed, beat unseeded Amr Mansi (Egy) and Joey Barrington (Eng), the #2 seed, beat unseeded Bernardo Samper (Col).

If you listen closely, somewhere at the Evergreen Squash Club you might hear the chant building - "Rosner Rocks", "Rosner Rocks", "Rosner Rocks" ...

Evergreen Squash Club

DRAW & RESULTS

Rosner has too much for Davis ...

Rosner played convincing squash to win the match 3/0, taking calculated risks and keeping Davis always 4-5 points behind in every game.

Not to take anything away from Paul, who had a great tournament reaching the quarters from a qualifier, but there was little left for tonight's match.

Rosner will open up a previously silent Germany for squash for the future! With tall physique and golden smile, there is a strong chance he could be the smiling assassin against Lavigne in the semis ...

12-Jan, Round One:
SEEDS FALL LIKE RAIN
IN VANCOUVER
Paul Marley reports from North Vancouver

Today was a tough day for seeded players as four of them lost in the opening round of 16 played in the North Shore Credit Union/Comfort Inn Open being held at the Evergreen Squash Club in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Messrs Jones (#3 seed), Giuffre (#4 seed), Alarcon (#6) & Kyme (#7 seed) were all eliminated in today's play.

Robin Clarke (Can), the wildcard selection, made a valiant attempt to reel in yet another seed extending #1 seed Renan Lavigne to four games over 57 minutes narrowly losing 11-9 in the fourth in an exciting crowd pleaser.

A qualifier is bound to reach at least the semi-finals, with Simon Rosner and Paul Davis set to meet each other in the quarter-finals.

And you'll never guess what the weather was doing in Vancouver - record setting rainfall; most of us have never seen a stretch of such soggy weather.

Vancouver Reports ...  round One

This match was played at a furious pace due to the court being packed with spectators therefore very warm, and Eric was playing unbelievably fast, but not taking the ball too early, hence giving Omar opportunities to move him around very well.

All games were extremely close but the real turning point came at 10-10 in third when Eric achieved some amazing dive recoveries, forcing a error, then keeping up the same intensity to close out the match with a backhand winner and lucky back wall nick!

However Omar played great squash, great mannerisms, just a little sloppy on the tee however this is to take nothing away from the massive potential he has! Eric simply refused to lose, and would not take no for a answer hence the result on the day.

Aaron Frankcomb and I believe it was one of the best matches we have personally witnessed, especially in the recoveries demonstrated by both players.

I didn't see it all as I was switching between this and the Galvez match, However Joey was to consistent for Tony, putting the ball where he wanted and sending Tony to retrieve!

It was not such a close match due to many unforced errors from Tony, who was however was moving quite well -  if anything too fast, with errors coming from that.

I didn't get to see this, though I heard reports of a brutal battle, a long five-setter with the turning point apparently 10-10 in the fourth. Even though Mansi lost that game it set him up for the fifth.