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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
5-Man Championships
Players Mentioned
Men's Squash Reaches 5-Man Championship, Falls Just Short Against Professional Foe
December 11, 2005 | Men's Squash
Dec. 12, 2005
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Princeton men's squash coach Bob Callahan entered the weekend and the National 5-Man Championships believing he had a pretty special group of freshmen at the top of his lineup. Now he knows for sure, as those freshman made up 3/5 of a lineup that came within two points from claiming the third five-man championship in program history and first since 2002.
A professional team in Connecticut edged the Tigers when Mark Heather, a pro player ranked internationally in the Top 35, topped Princeton No. 1 Yasser El Halaby 9-7 in the fifth and deciding game of the fifth and deciding match. El Halaby led the 2002 team that won the National 5-Man Championship by going 4-0 as a freshman, which included a win over a former pro and another over the 2001 national individual champion, Bernardo Samper of Trinity.
"We came so close to winning the title," head coach Bob Callahan said. "[Heather and El Halaby] played an incredible match that came down to 7-all in the fifth game. It was everything you could imagine, just a great, great match."
Heather won the final two points to clinch the match. The Connecticut team, which had defeated Harvard 5-0 the previous night, also earned hard-fought wins at Nos. 3 and 4. Princeton had claimed wins from No. 2 Mauricio Sanchez and No. 5 Vincent Yu. Sanchez defeated Karim Yehia, a Top-70 player in 2004, in three games to complete a perfect weekend.
"Mauricio Sanchez continues to amaze us," Callahan said afterwards. "He's indefatigable and has an incredible will to win." Yu won his first two games against Joe Pegrin before dropping a tight 10-8 third game. Not to be denied, the 2005 Malloy Cup winner came back with a 9-2 win in the fourth game.
No. 3 player Kimlee Wong lost in four games to Reggie Schonborn, who played No. 2 for Trinity last year. Wong won the opener 9-2 before falling in his final three games, although two proved to be very tight (9-7 and 10-8). No. 4 Hesham El Halaby lost three tough games to Dylan Patterson, a Harvard graduate who was eliminated in the second round of the 2003 national individual tournament by then Princeton freshman Yasser El Halaby.
Princeton advanced to the exciting final by sweeping a pair of Saturday matches. Following a 5-0 victory over a Yale Alumni squad in the quarterfinal, Princeton earned a hard-fought 5-0 win against a Philadelphia professional team. Yasser El Halaby led the way by defeating Top 60 player Imlan Khan in three games, and Sanchez followed suit with a 3-0 win over Joe Russell, a player formerly in the Top 50.
Wong dropped only two points in a 3-0 win in his semifinal match, while Hesham El Halaby closed his match with a 9-0 win in the fourth game. Yu split the first two games of his match before his opponent suffered an injury default.
Princeton is off until Feb. 1, when it resumes its season at No. 1 Trinity.
5-Man Championships Results
Quarterfinal: Princeton 5, Yale Alumni 0
individual results are not available at this time
Semifinal: Princeton 5, Philadelphia Professional 0
1 - Yasser El Halaby d. Imlan Khan 9-5, 9-2, 9-4
2 - Mauricio Sanchez d. Joe Russell Top-50 9-6, 9-2, 9-7
3 - Kimlee Wong d. Scott Devoy 9-0, 9-0, 9-2
4 - Hesham El Halaby d. Adam Hamill 9-4, 9-5, 5-9, 9-0
5 - Vincent Yu d. John Dale 9-4, 4-6, inj. def.
Championship: Connecticut Professional 3, Princeton 2
1 - Mark Heather (C) d. Yasser El Halaby 9-2, 4-9, 9-4, 9-10, 9-7
2 - Mauricio Sanchez (P) d. Karim Yehia 9-3, 9-3, 9-5
3 - Reggie Schonborn (C) d. Kimlee Wong 2-9, 9-7, 9-4, 10-8
4 - Dylan Patterson (C) d. Hesham El Halaby 9-5, 9-5, 9-6
5 - Vincent Yu (P) d. Joe Pegrin 9-7, 9-3, 8-10, 9-2