Search
Boys Squash Runners-Up @ Hopkins Invitational
On the afternoon of Saturday, December 7, eight secondary school
squash squads converged at the Hopkins Kneisel Squash Center to engage
in some spirited and sportsmanlike early season competition. And when
all was said and done, the Yale-based Squash Haven team came out as
the clear team victor. In order to complete this tournament in one
afternoon and evening, matches were set at 2 out of 3 games, with both
a main draw and a consolation draw in each of the #1 to #7 singles
flights.
The afternoon began auspiciously for the Hopkins Hilltoppers, with
#1 Spencer Lovejoy, #2 Justin Lee, #3 Nader Rastegar, #4 Alex Liu, #5
Matt Fiedler, #6 Gyan Maria, and #7 Will McLean all registering
quarter-final victories for Hopkins. Of these matches, by far the
closest encounter of the third kind was a cliff hanger of a match
between senior co-captain Nader Rastegar and tall and hard hitting
Peter Derby of Suffield Academy, finally won by Nader, 8/11, 11/3,
12/10.
The semi-final matches for Hopkins saw Spencer Lovejoy defeat a
fit and well trained Osuman Imoro from Squash Haven, 11/6, 11/8.
Co-captain Justin Lee dispatched Millbrook's Alex Wattles in straight
games while co-captain Nader Rastegar succumbed to the determined play
of eventual winner at #2 singles, Greg Reiss, 11/9, 11/4. Alex Liu
surpassed Kingswood-Oxford's Ryan Albanesi 15/13, 11/3, while freshman
Matt Fiedler used hard hit rail and cross court drives to dominate
Kevin Li of Williston, 11/5, 11/2. At #6 eighth grader Gyan Maria
overcame a stiff challenge from Suffield's Scott Carusillo, but ninth
grader Will McLean dropped a hotly contested match at #7 to
Millbrook's Mark Zhai, 12/10, 13/11.
Thus, for the final round, Hopkins had five players advancing to
the final round of the main draw and two others in the 3rd--4th place
playoff matches. Will overcame a tentative first game to come back to
garner 3rd place in the #7 singles draw, besting Williston's Nile
Buranasiri, 5/11, 11/5, 11/5. Nader Rastegar at #3 fell victim to
Canterbury's David Kang's superior tactical play, 11/5, 11/2,
finishing in 4th place. At the #2, #4, #5, and #6 singles positions,
Hopkins players found themselves against Squash Haven opponents in
each of these final matches, and Squash Haven clearly proved
themselves to be the class of the tournament, winning all four of
these final matches. Hopkins senior Michael Kravitz was able to play
as an extra competitor in the #7 singles spot, due to the non-entry of
a #7 player for Suffield Academy, and after losing his first match to
eventual Squash Haven winner, Michael won successive exciting 3 game
matches against opponents from Trinity Pawling and Canterbury to
finish in 5th place.
This left tenth grader and #1 player Spencer Lovejoy pitted
against a highly touted player from Egypt, Ziad el Mandoah. Points
were long, with both players making remarkable gets and placing their
shots with incredible accuracy and poise. After dropping a very close
first game 12/14, Spencer came back to capture the #1 singles title
with successive 11/4 and 11/8 game scores. The gathered crowd was
treated to some amazing excellent squash throughout this match.
Final team scores were as follows: (1) Squash Haven -- 63 points.
(2) Hopkins School -- 49 points. (3) Millbrook (NY) School -- 38
points. (4) Williston-Northampton -- 28 points. (5) Suffield Academy
-- 26 points. (6) Canterbury School -- 23 points. (7)
Kingswood-Oxford -- 17 points. (8) Trinity-Pawling -- 14 points.
A special note of thanks needs to go out to 2 volunteers who
helped this tournament to run with exceptional precision and harmony:
Yale professor and squash enthusiast David Paltiel, and Hopkins senior
Theo Wuest. Congratulations go to all players for a very
sportsmanlike and enthusiastic tournament event, and to the Hopkins
team for its very strong showing among secondary schools from three
different states. Good luck to all in the rest of your matches this
season!
With best regards,
William L. Ewen
Teacher of mathematics, 1968--2008
Varsity boys tennis coach, 1968--2012
Junior varsity boys tennis coach, 2012--2014
Varsity boys squash coach, 2008--2012
Assistant varsity boys squash coach, 2012--2014
Back
squash squads converged at the Hopkins Kneisel Squash Center to engage
in some spirited and sportsmanlike early season competition. And when
all was said and done, the Yale-based Squash Haven team came out as
the clear team victor. In order to complete this tournament in one
afternoon and evening, matches were set at 2 out of 3 games, with both
a main draw and a consolation draw in each of the #1 to #7 singles
flights.
The afternoon began auspiciously for the Hopkins Hilltoppers, with
#1 Spencer Lovejoy, #2 Justin Lee, #3 Nader Rastegar, #4 Alex Liu, #5
Matt Fiedler, #6 Gyan Maria, and #7 Will McLean all registering
quarter-final victories for Hopkins. Of these matches, by far the
closest encounter of the third kind was a cliff hanger of a match
between senior co-captain Nader Rastegar and tall and hard hitting
Peter Derby of Suffield Academy, finally won by Nader, 8/11, 11/3,
12/10.
The semi-final matches for Hopkins saw Spencer Lovejoy defeat a
fit and well trained Osuman Imoro from Squash Haven, 11/6, 11/8.
Co-captain Justin Lee dispatched Millbrook's Alex Wattles in straight
games while co-captain Nader Rastegar succumbed to the determined play
of eventual winner at #2 singles, Greg Reiss, 11/9, 11/4. Alex Liu
surpassed Kingswood-Oxford's Ryan Albanesi 15/13, 11/3, while freshman
Matt Fiedler used hard hit rail and cross court drives to dominate
Kevin Li of Williston, 11/5, 11/2. At #6 eighth grader Gyan Maria
overcame a stiff challenge from Suffield's Scott Carusillo, but ninth
grader Will McLean dropped a hotly contested match at #7 to
Millbrook's Mark Zhai, 12/10, 13/11.
Thus, for the final round, Hopkins had five players advancing to
the final round of the main draw and two others in the 3rd--4th place
playoff matches. Will overcame a tentative first game to come back to
garner 3rd place in the #7 singles draw, besting Williston's Nile
Buranasiri, 5/11, 11/5, 11/5. Nader Rastegar at #3 fell victim to
Canterbury's David Kang's superior tactical play, 11/5, 11/2,
finishing in 4th place. At the #2, #4, #5, and #6 singles positions,
Hopkins players found themselves against Squash Haven opponents in
each of these final matches, and Squash Haven clearly proved
themselves to be the class of the tournament, winning all four of
these final matches. Hopkins senior Michael Kravitz was able to play
as an extra competitor in the #7 singles spot, due to the non-entry of
a #7 player for Suffield Academy, and after losing his first match to
eventual Squash Haven winner, Michael won successive exciting 3 game
matches against opponents from Trinity Pawling and Canterbury to
finish in 5th place.
This left tenth grader and #1 player Spencer Lovejoy pitted
against a highly touted player from Egypt, Ziad el Mandoah. Points
were long, with both players making remarkable gets and placing their
shots with incredible accuracy and poise. After dropping a very close
first game 12/14, Spencer came back to capture the #1 singles title
with successive 11/4 and 11/8 game scores. The gathered crowd was
treated to some amazing excellent squash throughout this match.
Final team scores were as follows: (1) Squash Haven -- 63 points.
(2) Hopkins School -- 49 points. (3) Millbrook (NY) School -- 38
points. (4) Williston-Northampton -- 28 points. (5) Suffield Academy
-- 26 points. (6) Canterbury School -- 23 points. (7)
Kingswood-Oxford -- 17 points. (8) Trinity-Pawling -- 14 points.
A special note of thanks needs to go out to 2 volunteers who
helped this tournament to run with exceptional precision and harmony:
Yale professor and squash enthusiast David Paltiel, and Hopkins senior
Theo Wuest. Congratulations go to all players for a very
sportsmanlike and enthusiastic tournament event, and to the Hopkins
team for its very strong showing among secondary schools from three
different states. Good luck to all in the rest of your matches this
season!
With best regards,
William L. Ewen
Teacher of mathematics, 1968--2008
Varsity boys tennis coach, 1968--2012
Junior varsity boys tennis coach, 2012--2014
Varsity boys squash coach, 2008--2012
Assistant varsity boys squash coach, 2012--2014
Hopkins is a private middle school and high school for grades 7-12. Located on a campus overlooking New Haven, CT, the School takes pride in its intellectually curious students as well as its dedicated faculty and staff.
Hopkins School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.