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Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Squash Hopes To Author Storybook Finish To Championship Tale
February 15, 2006 | Men's Squash
Feb. 15, 2006
PRINCETON - Pick your favorite storyline. If you like a good dynasty, we've got the best current one in intercollegiate athletics. If you favor the senior standout looking for his first berth in the team final, we've got that. Maybe you'd prefer the two-time finalist looking for that charming third chance. Sure, those all work, but fans of the Princeton men's squash team have their own fairy tale in mind as the premier teams in collegiate men's squash make their way to Central New Jersey for this weekend's national team championships.
This particular story began being authored on Feb. 23, 2003, when Trinity defeated Princeton 6-3 for the Bantams' fifth straight national championship. The match had already been clinched by the time a freshman named Yasser El Halaby walked off the show court in the Jadwin Squash Courts with a 3-0 win at the No. 1 spot.
While Trinity celebrated its championship, El Halaby was left to hope for one more shot at that title. With countless honors in his future, including each of the last three individual national championships, El Halaby stands with the same hope in mind.
It's a hope he dearly wants to fulfill this weekend. El Halaby will lead the third-seeded Princeton Tigers into the Potter Division championships, where three team wins would earn Princeton its first national championship since 1993.
The Potter Division title is the top of six crowns that will be competed for this weekend. More than 40 intercollegiate squash programs, including Penn State, Notre Dame and U.S.C., will compete within those six divisions at one of three locations: the Jadwin squash courts, the Dillon Gym squash courts (also on Princeton's campus) and the Lawrenceville School squash courts. Lawrenceville has a proud tradition of high school squash, having recently claimed its third consecutive U.S. boys' national championship. Last year's team featured two of Princeton's current freshmen, Mauricio Sanchez and Hesham El Halaby. Each of the top five divisions will feature eight seeded teams, competing in a single-elimination format with consolation rounds to guarantee three matches apiece for each team.
Of course, only one division is gunning for a national championship, and the four main competitors are plenty familiar with each other: No. 1 Trinity, No. 2 Yale, No. 3 Princeton and No. 4 Harvard.
Those four teams will all need to win their respective quarterfinals to set up a Super Saturday at Jadwin Gym, when arguable the best afternoon of college squash in quite some time could take place.
Three of the quarterfinals will be played Friday at 1:15 at the Lawrenceville School. Trinity, riding a 141-match win streak, will open with No. 8 Dartmouth. The Bantams defeated Dartmouth 9-0 earlier in the season, with all nine matches ending with identical 3-0 scores. Yale will take on Williams College in a rematch from Jan. 15, when Yale rode six 3-0 wins to an eventual 8-1 team win. The final quarterfinal will be between No. 5 Penn and Harvard; the Crimson defeated Penn 6-3 earlier this month.
The final semifinal spot will be decided at 3:45 at Jadwin, where Princeton will battle No. 6 Western Ontario.
"The Western players are a very experienced and savvy group," Princeton head coach Bob Callahan said. "This will be a big challenge for our team, but we're playing at home and with a lot of confidence right now."
If form holds, Saturday will be a special day for collegiate men's squash. At noon Saturday, Yale and Princeton will renew one of the great rivalries in the sport on the same courts that saw the Bulldogs earn a spirited 5-4 win over the Tigers last month. Playing without their injured tri-captain and No. 1 player El Halaby, Princeton took an early lead in the match, but a veteran Yale squad rallied in the second session and won it with a 3-1 victory from Andrew Vinci at No. 8.
The Bulldogs will be led by Julian Illingworth, a standout senior who reached the national individual final last year. Illingworth is looking to lead Yale to the national team final for the first time in his storied Yale career, and he has a talented crew that could make that happen.
That match would be played on courts 1-3. At the same time, another major rivalry will resume on courts 7-9, where Trinity and Harvard will replay the national championship match of the last two years. The Crimson came close to pulling out a title, even coming within 5-4 once, but Trinity pulled both matches out. Trinity defeated Harvard 8-1 earlier in the season, but the Crimson has as strong a top portion of the lineup as anybody in the country, and it could prove another mighty challenge to Trinity.
For the record, the match on courts 4-6 would be the semifinal of the Summers Division, which is likely to feature St. Lawrence and Colby. Fans of those programs might want to come early. Very early.
The Bantams are again the Potter Division favorites, having just completed another perfect regular season. Led by No. 1 player Shaun Johnstone, superb freshman Gustav Detter and a cast of veterans, Trinity has the talent and experience to draw on in the tough matches this weekend.
But the same can be said for Princeton, whom the local fans hope and believe can make the dream a reality this weekend. Callahan submitted his roster of 10 players, a team he hopes can provide at least five wins on three consecutive days.
Heading the lineup, as he has done every match he's ever played for Princeton, will be Yasser El Halaby. The three-time national individual champion has said on more than one occasion his ultimate goal is the team national championship, and the Tigers will likely need the typical performance from El Halaby -- victory. The senior tri-captain will need to overcome an injury that kept him out of three matches this season, but in his final three home matches, few would expect anything less.
Tiger fans are just learning about the next three players, but they're plenty thrilled about all they know. No. 2 player Mauricio Sanchez is as fit as they come and an incredibly talented counter-puncher that can stay on the court all day. Sanchez has already earned a win against Trinity and last Sunday he extended 2004 national finalist Will Broadbent to five games. He isn't likely to be intimidated by either the opponent or the moment.
No. 3 player Kimlee Wong is a strong shotmaker who picked up wins against both Yale and Trinity already this season. In the three-round format, Wong will play on the show court in the first session, so he will be depended on to provide both a victory and early momentum. He has rarely failed to produce either one.
Another El Halaby handles the No. 4 spot. Freshman Hesham El Halaby brought plenty of talent to Princeton this year, but the experience he gained his freshman season was critical. He earned his best win of the season against Yale, topping No. 3 player Ho Ming Chiu in three games. This will be another new experience, and as a player in the final round of matches, it could prove to be a critical one.
Junior Vincent Yu takes the No. 5 role for the weekend. The 2005 Malloy Trophy winner is coming off his best win of the season, a 3-2 match-clinching victory at Harvard last weekend. Yu rallied from 7-0 down in the fifth game, and will need to show the same type of fighting spirit throughout the weekend.
Senior tri-captain Nate Beck is a crucial player at No. 6. He has already proven a toughness to his game, rallying from 8-0 down to win a 10-9 game of an eventual 3-2 win against Harvard. That match helped Princeton secure the team victory and, ultimately, the Ivy League title. That was his first Ivy League title, and he could be called on for the tide-turning win in the chase for his first team national title.
Senior tri-captain Dent Wilkens returned to the squad this season after taking the last year off and has come back with a furious run. Wilkens is the only player to win against Trinity, Yale and Harvard this season. He is fit, strong and confident, and could play a decisive semifinal match against Yale's Andrew Vinci, the Bulldog hero of the 5-4 win at Princeton earlier in the season.
Junior Michael Gilman will play the No. 8 spot. Gilman has played all over the lineup throughout his career, and he has the skills to play with the best in the nation. What he doesn't have is the signature victory that some of his teammates have, but he is certainly a prime candidate to pick one up this weekend. Coming off a 3-0 win against Harvard, Gilman should bring confidence to the court.
Rounding out the starting lineup is junior Tom McKay, who has always been a top gun for Callahan throughout his career. A tough match player, McKay picked up wins against both Trinity and Harvard, but fell in a tough 3-1 match against Yale and would love nothing more than one additional shot at the Bulldogs.
Should one player get injured for Princeton, No. 10 player Tim Callahan would move into the starting lineup. Everything you need to know about this junior can be summed up in his performance against Yale. Finding out he was going to play varsity hours before the match started, Callahan rallied in the fifth game, composed himself after an apparent match ball was taken away on a let and pulled out a 10-8 victory. If he can handle that pressure, he'll be fine this weekend.
It has the potential to be one of the great weekends in collegiate squash, regardless of who wins. But for those supporting the Orange and Black, it has the potential to be the "happily ever after" to one of the great four-year stories ever written by a Princeton athletic team.
Weekend Information
For a full list of the CSA divisional brackets this weekend, click here.
Potter Division Lineups
Trinity
1.Shaun Johnstone
2. Gustav Detter
3 Jacques Swanepoel
4 Sahil Vora
5 Eduardo Pereira
6 Manek Mathur
7 Yvain Badan
8 Simba Muhwati
9 Eric Wadhwa
10 Coly Smith
Yale
1 Julian Illingworth
2. Nick Chirls
3. Homing Chiu
4. Moshe Sarfaty
5. Max Samuel
6. Avner Geva
7. Andrew Vinci
8. Francis Johnson
9. Trevor Rees
10. Alex Tilton
Princeton
1 Yasser El Halaby
2 Mauricio Sanchez
3 Kim Lee Wong
4 Hesham El Halaby
5 Vincent Yu
6 Nate Beck
7 Dent Wilkens
8 Mike Gilman
9 Tom McKay
10 Tim Callahan
Harvard
1 Sid Suchde
2 Will Broadbent
3 Ilan Oren
4 Jason Delierre
5. Garnett Booth
6. Chessin Gertler
7. Verdi DiSesa
8. Nico Hrdy
9. Mihir Sheth
10. Todd Ostrow
Penn
1 Gilly Lane
2 Lee Rosen
3 Ben Ende
4 Spencer Kurn
5 Andrew Zimmerman
6 Graham Bassett
7 Jacob Himmelrich
8 Will Simonton
9 Nick Malinowski
10 Parker Justi
Western Ontario
1.Iain Crozier
2. Greg Hutner
3. Andrew Janzic
4. Michael Auer
5. Alex Carter
6. Chris Hanebury
7. Jeff Lurie
8. Tyler Parrington
9. Ryan Osborne
10. Mark Ridgeway
Williams
1. William Walter
2. John Barry
3. Tony Maruca
4. Tyler Kyle
5. Morgan Phillips
6. Bernard Yaros
7. Jeff Wessler
8. George Miller
9. Bucky Marshall
10. Cameron Henry
Dartmouth
1. Andrew Boumford
2. Todd Wood
3. Hank Alexander
4. Ted Newhouse
5. Adam Slutsky
6. Adam King
7. Tyler Young
8. Billy Nix
9. Eben Clattenberg
10. Daniel Schneider