Princeton University
Yale
Players Mentioned
With Top Player Unavailable, Men's Squash Experiences Another Heartbreaker
February 04, 2006 | Men's Squash
Feb. 4, 2006
PRINCETON - With No. 1 player Yasser El Halaby forced to sit out the match with an injury, the shorthanded Princeton men's squash team put forth a terrific effort, but a game Yale squad prevailed in the night's final match and left the Jadwin Squash Courts with a 5-4 victory.
The four-hour, emotionally charged contest came to a conclusion when Yale's No. 8 player, Andrew Vinci, pulled out an 8-3 victory in the fourth and final game of their match at No. 8.
It ended one of the most heartbreaking weeks in the recent history of the men's squash program, which on Wednesday fell to No. 1 Trinity 5-4. Princeton can hope for one more chance against both programs in two weeks, when Jadwin Gym serves as host for the national team championships.
Playing a three-round format, Princeton took a 2-1 lead by claiming matches at No. 3 and No. 9. Since all varsity players had to move up one spot to overcome Yasser El Halaby's absence, his younger brother Hesham El Halaby opened the team scoring with a 3-0 win at No. 3. Yale's Avner Geva pulled out a 3-1 win over Michael Gilman at No. 6, but the drama of the round was on court 3, where Yale's Francis Johnson and Princeton's Tim Callahan, son of head coach Bob Callahan, were locked in a thrilling duel.
Callahan led 2-0 before Johnson willed his way back into the match with two straight wins. Both players see-sawed through the early portions of game five, but Callahan eventually went ahead and took an 8-7 lead. It would then become 9-8 before he finally played a deep drive that Johnson couldn't return, and the Tiger junior, who only had a couple hours to prepare for the critical match, dropped to his knees in celebration. The next two matches to finish were at No. 2, which went the way of Princeton's Kimlee Wong, and No. 5, which was won by Yale's Joseph Samuel. Yale's top player, Julian Illingworth, then defeated a game Mauricio Sanchez at No. 1 to even the match at 3-3.
Dent Wilkens gave Princeton a 4-3 lead by cruising to a win at No. 7, but Yale again battled back when Moshe Sarfaty won three hard-fought games over Vincent Yu to even the match.
That left it up to the No. 8 match, where Vinci jumped out to a 2-0 lead in games before McKay claimed the third game to get himself back into the match. McKay trailed 4-3 in the fourth game before Vinci took control for good and won the final five point to end the match and ignite a Yale celebration.
Princeton will play three Ivy League matches this week, beginning Wednesday night at Penn. The Tigers won't return to Jadwin Gym until Feb. 17, when they begin their quest for the national team title.
Yale 5, Princeton 4
1 - Julian Illingworth (Y) d. Mauricio Sanchez 3-0
2 - Kimlee Wong (P) d. Nick Chirls 3-0
3 - Hesham El Halaby (P) d. Ho Ming Chiu 3-0
4 - Moshe Sarfaty (Y) d. Vincent Yu 3-0
5 - Joseph Samuel (Y) d. Nate Beck 3-0
6 - Avner Geva (Y) d. Michael Gilman 3-1
7 - Dent Wilkens (P) d. Trevor Rees 3-0
8 - Andrew Vinci (Y) d. Tom McKay 3-1
9 - Tim Callahan (P) d. Francis Johnson 3-2