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XV
PanAmerican Championships 2005
25-30 October, San Salvador |
Team Event:
Men's Final:
Brazil bt USA 3/0
Women's Final: USA bt Canada 2/1 |
full details from the
INDIVIDUAL EVENT
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SEMI FINAL DAY
Ray Chan-A-Sue reports
from San Salvador ...
 The ladies were on first for their semi-finals. The US playing
Brazil and Canada taking on Mexico.
The ladies from the US continued their fine form of not yet losing a
match in this tournament with a quick three matches to nil win over
Brazil. Louisa Hall and Carlin Wing made sure of the result with
efficient 3-1 and 3-0 wins at the #1 and #3 positions making the #2
match meaningless.
In the other semi finals it was not quite that easy. This contest
was even at every position with the number one matchup being a
replay of the Women’s individual final between Samantha Teran and
Alana Miller.
Ashley Clackson of Canada went on in the first game against
Sari
Diaz and just attacked from the outset. The pace was high and Diaz
was not handling the pace very well. She made many unforced errors
and when it was not that it was Clackson catching her flatfooted
with a working boast from the back or a trickle boast from the
front. Clackson went on to win in three straight.
The number ones were on next with both players on their tenth match
of the tournament, and this would decide if Mexico stayed alive.
Teran, looking to avenge her loss in the individuals, looked
determined and adjusted her game from Thursday evening. She
initiated to the front much more often this game and was on the ball
very quickly. Miller was also a little slow could not always make
the correction except for one game. It was over in four games 3-1
and the matches tied at one all.
That brought up Ruchika Kumar of Canada to try to clinch a finals
spot for Canada. Kumar is no stranger to these type of situations
after representing Canada twice at the World junior Championships.
She had beaten her opponent Karina Herrera in the individual event
but like I stated earlier, with this many matches in a short time,
only the fittest survive.
The first game saw long rallies played on the back hand side which
gave Kumar many loose balls to put away in the front. The second
game was marked by unforced errors and more consistent play by
Herrera which resulted in the match tied at one game apiece. The
third saw Kumar continue to make unforced errors and with her
growing confidence Herrera started to play even more aggressively
and took the play to Kumar forcing weak boasts which were promptly
killed for winners. Kumar made a slight comeback from 0-5 down but
in the end the lead was too much for her to overcome.
By the fourth game both players were screaming their lungs out as
they realized that this could be the deciding game. In this game,
Kumar came out and and immediately established her length and width
which resulted in many loose balls from Herrera. Kumar would then
immediately play short to catch her opponent at the back. The fifth
game went the same way as Kumar found her length and also used her
working boasts to take the legs out of Herrera. She went on to win
9-4 on her fifth match ball.
Men's Semis
The Men’s semi-finals were not as dramatic as the women as the US
used their depth to dispatch the Eric Galvez-less(personal reasons)
team in two straight matches.
Julian Illingworth avenged his defeat in the individuals by beating
Jose Becerril in four games. The Brazil/Argentina match lacked the
excitement that these two teams have come to be known for. The
reason being that Argentina were without their true number one
player in Jorge Guiterrez and their current players depend highly on
outlasting their opponents.
Given the number of matches though you could see the signs of
fatigue, especially from number one Robertino Pezzota, a former
Scottish Junior Open champion, who looked ragged in the
quarter-final when he lost in three straight games to Canadian Robin
Clarke. Clarke played exceptionally well and had Pezzota moving to
all corners of the court, even at one point not hitting tin for two
games. Ronnie Santos got Brazil off to a quick start with a three
love win over Hernan Darnangelo and then Rafael Alarcon easily
finished off Pezzota in three games to give the Brazilians the match
and a spot in the final. Alarcon looked very composed and while
complaining about a leg injury earlier in the day, looked none the
worse for the wear.
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After a long trip back to Calgary from San Salvador, Ray
Chan-A-Sue brings us up to date on the team Semi-finals and
Finals ...
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TRUTH & RUMOURS
A certain US team member who has dual citizenship looked at
the men’s team event knock out draw and went back to tell his
coach Chris Walker and teammates that they were playing Costa
Rica.
He was adamant that it was Costa Rica even after Walker told
him it was actually Columbia.
So they went to check the draw together and sure enough it was
Columbia.
Who were Costa Rica playing? CANADA…
We know he is truly Canadian at heart.
MISSING!!!
A certain English referee’s luggage was blown away, possibly
by Hurricane Wilma or by American Airlines.
The poor ref (not too often we say that) had to do a few daily
trips to the mall for some necessities.
Hopefully she will get her suit case back on the way to
England.
Thanks for your work.
[PS On arrival back in England the aforementioned ref
believes her luggage to be in
Colombia. Ed.]
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Women's Final:
USA 2 Canada 1
Louisa Hall lost to
Alana Miller
6/9, 3/9, 3/9
Carlin Wing bt
Ashley Clackson
9/2, 5/9, 9/2, 10/8
Ivy Pochoda bt
Ruchika Kumar
9/7, 9/6, 9/3
Men's Final:
Brazil 3 USA 0
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THE FINALS
The women’s team final matched an exhausted Canadian team who had
barely scrambled into the final against the US team who had rolled
over all their opponents leading up to the finals.
Not to take anything away from the US team, they played
exceptionally well and brought the right individuals to play in this
event. All very fit and loving to keep the rallies long ... perfect
in these conditions.
The first match had Ashley Clackson of Canada, having only lost one
of her team matches and looking dominating in the morning, coming up
against Carlin Wing of the US. The Canadians definitely had a chance
and based on the first game, why not. Clackson came out and just
powered her way through, not allowing Wing any time to get her
rhythm. Her cross courts were deep and powerful along with her
drives which were hard and low.
The game was over in 10 minutes 9/2. The same continued the next
game but Wing got smarter and started to use the height of the front
wall and forced Clackson to hit her drives from deeper in the court
and also volleyed from higher. This forced Clackson into short
drives which Wing calmly despatched to the opposite corner or
countered with a drop which found Clackson off balanced.
The same continued in the third and again Wing took that game 9/2.
The fourth game saw Clackson come out and play at a much more
determined pace, mixing it with slow deep drives to the back. She
used this to get to 8-6 game point but again Wing just extended the
rallies and in the end, caused Clackson to tire and she went on the
win the game and match 10-8.
The first string match saw the women’s individual winner, Alana
Miller and Louisa Hall, the women’s semi-finalist, battle it out.
Miller was trying to keep Canada alive in her 11th match in five
days, Hall was playing a much more disciplined game trying to give
the Americans their third consecutive win in this event.
Miller looked tired in her loss in the semi-final match against
Samantha Teran, and looked so again here so Hall might have thought
she had a chance. However, the tall Canadian came out and dominated
the T from the start. Any loose drives were quickly volleyed short
for winners and when Hall tried to come forward to cover she was met
with the ball zooming past her to the back. Miller won for the loss
of just eight points.
Tied at one all it was up to Ivy Pochoda of the US and Ruchika Kumar
of Canada. Kumar, being asked for the second time in the day to come
up with the goods in the clutch, looked determined but made too many
mistakes against Pochoda, whose left handed swing can be very
deceptive. A bit of resistance by Kumar in the first and second
games but Pochoda was just too steady for Kumar on this day, and the
US won by two matches to one.
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Men’s TEAM Final
A fair sized crowd came out to witness the men’s team final between
Brazil and the US. Two very deep teams and it was hard to know which
would come out on top.
Tiago Carbal from Brazil was first on, playing in his usual blue hat
against the ageless one, and former Pan-Am Individual and Team gold medalist when he played for Canada,
Jamie Crombie.
The three wall glass court was which plays much slower than the
other courts at the Mayan Country Club, allows the drop shot to stay
lower and tighter to the walls. This looked to be the undoing of
Crombie, since Carbal’s shots were tight and Crombie’s were more of
the working type which worked so effectively on the other courts.
Carbal made him pay for every loose shot and was on the ball before
Crombie had recovered from the previous shot. It was over in thirty
minutes with Brazil taking a one match to love lead.
The second match had Rafael Alarcon and Julian Illingworth, the respective number
ones, step on court to either to clinch the title or send it to the
decider.
Alarcon came out fast in the first game, using his usual piercing
length along with his deft touch at the front of the court to take a
quick 8-4 lead only to see Illingworth, playing with consistency and
used the front court wherever there was an opening, work his way
back to 8-8 and win the game 10-8.
In the second game, Alarcon was determined not to let this match
slip away from him, and made sure that he didn't relax which
resulted in sustained pressure on Illingworth for the entire game. A
quick 9-3 win for the Brazilian. The third game saw Illingworth take
a five point lead at 6-1, making Alarcon move all over the court,
but at this point it looked like he relaxed a bit and Alacon came
storming back to win the game 9-6, hitting with great pace and
countering everything that Illingworth tried.
The momentum had definitely swung and it looked like it would only
be a matter of time before Brazil clinched the win, which turned out
to be the case as Alarcon raced through the final game to give
Brazil the team trophy.
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So the US and Brazil share the team honours. Next year will be the
qualification year for the 2007 Pan-Am games and the tournament will
be held in Medillen, Columbia.
There is sure to be even more intensity (if you can imagine that)
with some teams who were not at full strength here sure to bring
some of their better players. Canada for one will definitely be
looking to break the Brazil and USA streaks in the Men’s and Women’s
team event, along with Columbia and Argentina who were missing one
key piece on their men’s teams, in Bernardo Samper and Jorge
Gutierrez respectively.
Ray Chan-A-Sue |
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TEAM EVENT!!
Ray Chan-A-Sue reports ...
Friday in San Salvador was a slow one, not only have the matches
been long but this correspondent was also having a bit of trouble
moving after the individual finals the evening before, and that
great comeback win by my fellow Canadian and new Pan-American
Champion Alana Miller.
 Canada
and the US are sometimes accused of not being as passionate about
this event as they should be, however on Thursday night the entire
Canadian team and all its supporters, cheering loudly for Miller
made it look as though two Latin American players were competing.
When it was apparent Miller was on the comeback, the chants only got
louder.
We are now in the knock out stage of the team event. Argentina,
Mexico and Brazil finished first in their respective
pools on the men’s side and U.S , Mexico and Canada
finishing top in their pools on the women’s side. The two big pool
matches were Argentina against the United States and Brazil and
Columbia at night.
To give you an idea of how long each match took there were three
sessions (morning, lunch &evening), the first at 1pm and the second
at 6pm. The Argentina/US match finished just before the evening
session was to commence, Argentina winning by two matches to one in
just under five hours.
 The
feature match of the Brazil/Columbia clash was between the two
number one players from each country. Rafael Alarcon, currently a
top 60 PSA player, against the talented Columbian Miguel Rodriguez.
It attracted a large crowd who were thoroughly entertained by the
shot making of Rodridgez and the retrieving skills of Alarcon. The
match was close all the way through but in the end the Brazilian’s
tactic of keeping Rodriguez at the back and punishing any loose
shots paid off.
The semi-finals should see a great match ups, with Brazil against
Argentina and Mexico and the US battling it out for a spot in the
final. Both the US and Argentina are coming off difficult matches
against Columbia and Canada.
On the women’s side the US will play Brazil and and Canada will play
Mexico in what could see a rematch of the Women’s Individual Final,
between Samantha Teran and Alana Miller. These ties will be close
and after six days of intense squash it could be anyone’s match.
Ray Chan-A-Sue |
 SEMIS
FOR BOTH US TEAMS ...
Ivy Pochoda reports
The US Women's team advanced to the semi-final of the Pan Am
Fed Cup with another routine 3-0 win, this time over
Guatemala. None of the three players dropped a game on their
way to victory.
The excitement of the day was provided by the US Men, however,
who clinched a nail-biting match with Colombia 2-1. Jamie
Crombie, playing in the third spot, wrapped up the first tie
of the match with a convincing 3-0 victory. He was followed by
Julian Illingworth, who couldn't seem to find his backhand
dropshot, which perhaps cost him his match 1-3.
So it was up to the US's youngest player, Chris Gordon to
decide the outcome against Santiago Montoya, whom he barely
beat in the individual event in five games. Gordon mixed
maturity with his usual fist pumping antics, and finally
brought his match to a close with a impressive 3-1 victory.
Ivy Pochoda |
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