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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Yale (Team Nationals)
Men's Squash Stuns Yale, Takes Third In National Team Tournament
February 27, 2005 | Men's Squash
Feb. 28, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The year began with injuries, illnesses and top recruits who never played a single match. It didn't get off to a good start when matches started, either. But it was the finish, the sweetest finish of Bob Callahan's career, that has left yet another shining moment in the proud tradition of Princeton men's squash.
The Tigers entered the national team tournament ranked fifth in the country, but it jumped two spots in the final ranking with its best weekend of the season. Following an 8-1 quarterfinal upset of No. 4 Penn and a loss to eventual national champion Trinity in the semifinal, Princeton stunned Yale 6-3 in the third-place match.
The win over Yale, which entered as the third seed, is even more incredible considering that the Bulldogs had defeated Princeton 8-1 one month earlier. "To finish with this unbelievable conclusion, I couldn't be more happy," head coach Bob Callahan said. "This is probably the most rewarding conclusion I've ever had. To finish third, I really couldn't ask for more from this group. I'm really thrilled."
Junior Yasser El Halaby got back on track after a rocky couple of weeks with 3-0 wins over the Nos. 2 and 3 players in the country, Yale's Julian Illingworth and Trinity's Bernardo Samper. He will go into next week's national individual championships, held in Hanover, N.H., as the No. 1 seed.
El Halaby earned Princeton's only win against Trinity, the longtime power of men's squash. Trinity went on to defeat Harvard Sunday for the national title. On the same day, Princeton got a pair of 3-2 wins and a pair of 3-1 wins in the stunner of Yale.
Third-place match: Princeton 6, Yale 3
1 - Yasser El Halaby (P) d. Julian Illingworth 3-0 (9-2, 9-2, 9-4)
2 - Robert Hong (P) d. Josh Schwartz 3-1 (7-9, 9-3, 9-3, 9-0)
3 - Moshe Safarty (Y) d. Michael Gilman 3-0 (9-4, 9-2, 9-7)
4 - Nick Chirls (Y) d. Preston Comey 3-0 (9-2, 9-4, 9-4)
5 - Tom McKay (P) d. Trevor Rees 3-2 (9-4, 8-10, 1-9, 9-7, 9-7)
6 - Vincent Yu (P) d. Tim Wyant 3-0 (9-3, 9-5, 9-3)
7 - Parker Sutton (P) d. Homing Chiu 3-2 (10-8, 9-5, 4-9, 1-9, 9-5)
8 - Max Samuel (Y) d. Tim Callahan 3-0 (9-1, 9-2, 9-5)
9 - Rob Siverd (P) d. Alex Tilton 3-1 (10-9, 9-2, 6-9, 9-6)
National semifinal: Trinity 8, Princeton 1
1 - Yasser El Halaby (P) d. Bernardo Samper 3-0 (9-1, 9-1, 10-8)
2 - Reggie Schonborn (T) d. Robert Hong 3-0 (9-3, 9-0, 9-2)
3 - Shaun Johnstone (T) d. Michael Gilman 3-0, (9-0, 9-2, 9-1)
4 - Yvain Badan (T) d. Preston Comey 3-1 (9-0, 9-3, 7-9, 9-2)
5 - Eduardo Pereira (T) d. Tom McKay 3-0 (9-3, 9-3, 9-1)
6 - Jacques Swanepoel (T) d. Vincent Yu 3-0 (9-2, 9-5, 9-5)
7 - Sahil Vora (T) d. Parker Sutton 3-0 (9-2, 9-3, 9-2)
8 - Eric Wadhwa (T) d. Tim Callahan 3-0 (9-3, 9-2, 9-4)
9 - Vishal Kapoor (T) d. Rob Siverd 3-1 (9-7, 9-4, 9-4)