Finals Day in Rochester
Report by Thomson Chew

On a rainy Sunday afternoon the enthusiastic squash fans packed the University of Rochester squash courts to view the final match of the 2006 Rochester Pro Am. Many of the spectators had witnessed the solid play of both players over the previous two days and were anticipating an exciting finish.

Rochester Squash Racquets Association President Bob Gerace offered a round of thanks to the tournament sponsors, volunteers, and fans for helping to bring pro squash to Rochester. Tournament Director Eric Hernady introduced the finalists Miguel Angel Rodriguez of Columbia and Yasser El-Halaby of Egypt.

Miguel is on the pro tour and ranked 73. Yasser is finishing a stellar career on the Princeton University varsity squash team and is preparing himself for the pro circuit.

No Stopping Rodriguez
Hugh Higgins and Mithun Mukherjee report

Top seeded Miguel Angel Rodriguez of Columbia moved into the finals of the Rochester Pro after he faced off against 3rd seed Ben Gould of Australia in the first of the tournament’s semi-final matches.

With a large crowd watching them, top seed Rodriguez took on the retrieving machine that is Ben Gould and matched him shot for shot. It was a fast-paced first game with long rallies that featured high lobs to the back corners and deft drop shots to the front. Rodriguez, a compact and lithe player, was incredibly quick to the ball. Gould showed great shot making ability – no doubt a beneficial by-product of his doubles playing experience. The first game was very close and Gould took the early lead winning the game 11-8.

The second game flowed seamlessly from the first with both players visiting all corners of the court on almost every point. Matching each other shot for shot, Rodriguez tried to keep Gould low in the front of the court and Gould kept pushing Rodriguez back into the corners, digging impossible shots off the back wall. This was very clean squash with only a few let calls, Rodriguez kept to the short game and won 12-10 in a close tie-breaker.

With the match tied at a game apiece, the third game saw very few mistakes. This is not to say this was safe squash, it was full of highly exciting and low percentage squash, but still there were very few errors. The players waged a battle of attrition with points that went on for 30 shots or more. Towards the end of the game, after just tinning his second shot in a row, Gould made a comment about the tin being high. Though he was only venting, this caused the crowd to murmur excitedly in the way only true fanatics can about the subtle differences between the college and pro game.

Meanwhile, the players themselves were putting on a display of almost exhibition squash, hitting impossible shots off the back wall and replying with reverse boasts and a behind the back volley by Gould that highlighted his lightning reflexes and kept him in a point when most would have given up. Rodriguez was quick throughout to ask for lets and received them to the chagrin of Gould. At 8-7, Rodriguez showed great deceptive skills and set-up for a cross-court drive off a short drop that caught Gould flat footed and even had the crowd leaning the wrong way. Gould’s problems with the tin continued to plague him and Rodriguez closed out he game at 11-7 and went up two games to one.

Rodriguez appeared for the fourth game with a determined look on his face while Gould appeared relaxed and almost Zen-like. The pace of the last two games had caused Gould, on his third shirt of the match, to seem a half-step slower than the first game and Rodriguez went up 6-1. Gould protested a not-up call by the referee to no avail, but this seemed to strengthen his resolve and he started to hit with authority. Rodriguez however, was quicker to get back to the T. With Gould going for more winners the pair had their longest point of the match, with almost 50 shots being traded. Rodriguez had a superior drop shot and went up to 9-7. On the next point Rodriguez faked not one but two different shots, purposely swinging and missing the ball on the volley in an attempt to draw a stroke from Gould, only to then hit the ball after it hit off the back wall, but still lost the point. At 9-10, however, Rodriguez hit a rail cross-court into the body of Gould, catching him off guard at mid-court for the win. Gould was visibly disappointed, but not the crowd, who were treated to superb squash and a great preview of one of the finalists. If we get a final half as good, we should consider ourselves lucky.

         Joan Lezaud & Ben Gould
 

Brendan Bascom (Rochester) bt Iain Crozier (Can)  12/10, 12/10, 8/11, 14/16, 11/7

In what was undoubtedly the most watched match of the first round in the qualifying, Rochester’s own Brendan Bascom, who plays #2 at Princeton took on world-ranked #215 Iain Crozier from Canada.

With the crowd behind Brendan the first game was fast paced. The compact and muscular Bascom played an aggressive attacking game while the taller Canadian used his reach to try and be more patient. After trading hand-outs for 7 or 8 points the pair found themselves in a tie-breaker. With both players playing near errorless squash Bascom hit a low attacking volley that Crozier could not get to in time to win the first 12-10.

In the 2nd game, Crozier became more aggressive and went up 10-6 before Brendan fought back hard to get to their second tie-breaker. To the delight of the ever growing crowd Brendan went up 12-10 to win the second after a beautiful cross-court winner to finish the game.

The third game was characterized by much shorter rallies as both players appeared tired after two straight tie-breakers. Crozier went up to an impressive 10-5 but then tinned his game winning shot, leaving the crowd hopeful for Bascom to come back and win in three. Crozier, evidencing incredible racket head control held on to win 11-8.

In the marathon fourth game, Crozier emerged tired, with Bascom taking firm control and making his presence known. Brendan won a flurry of points by hitting hard and out pacing the Canadian and was rewarded with his first clear led of the match. Bascom went up 8-4 before Crozier battled back to their third tiebreaker in four games.

By this time the other two qualifying matches were long finished and the crowd surged behind the court to lend the hometown favourite their support. The tie-breaker was suspenseful and colourful squash to say the least.

The players traded points to 13-all. Brendan went up after a great nick winner to 14-13 to match –point. In the most controversial call of the match Bascom hit a cross-court lob that both players continued to play, but the referee called out to give the point to Crozier. Bascom seemed to be clearly agitated by the call and lost the game 16-14.

After settling down between games Bascom emerged tired but also in control of his game and displayed the ability to hit nicks at will. Crozier, also appearing tired between games, had clearly given his best to win the previous tie-breaker, and just like that at 11-7, the Rochester Pro, has a Rochester player advancing to the 2nd Qualifying Round.