.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
CSA Singles Tournament
Players Mentioned
El Halaby Saves Best For Last, Rewrites Records In Final Collegiate Match
March 05, 2006 | Men's Squash
March 5, 2006
AMHERST, Mass. - The exclamation point on the greatest career in the history of collegiate squash took 39 minutes to dot. Senior Yasser El Halaby became the first men's squash player to ever win four national championships by sweeping top-seeded Siddharth Suchde 9-2, 9-0, 9-6.
"He was unbelievable today," Princeton head coach Bob Callahan said afterwards. "It was probably the finest Yasser has ever played. He came out from the first point with his 'A' game. It was just a devastating performance."
It was the dream final for the 2006 season, but it quickly became a nightmare for the top-seeded Suchde. The Harvard junior, who will enter next season as the clear favorite to win a national title, had gone undefeated throughout the regular season, as well as the postseason. One of his best wins came over El Halaby, in his return match from a foot injury.
El Halaby made sure he wiped out any bad memories from that regular season match by jumping out to an 8-0 lead in the first game. Suchde got two points back, but El Halaby finished it off to take the first game.
The second game went even better for the Princeton senior tri-captain, who ran Suchde all over the place for a 9-0 win. It was a 10-point run that grew into a 17-point run, as El Halaby jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the third game, his final ever as a collegiate player.
Suchde showed no quit, winning six of the next eight points, but it wasn't enough to extend the match or his chance at a first national title.
"Sid was a tremendous champion as always," Callahan said. "He's such a classy kid, as good a kid as there is."
But the story was El Halaby and his historic final victory. Players from all different schools congratulated him afterwards, and they will never forget the history they saw that final day. For his career, El Halaby ends with four national individual titles, two Ivy League titles and two berths in the national team finals. In his 20 wins in the individual postseason tournament, he won 60 games and lost four. The ultimate closer, El Halaby won all four of his championship matches by identical 3-0 scores, and he won eight of those 12 games by either 9-0, 9-1 or 9-2 scores.
He wasn't the only Princeton senior to win his final collegiate match. In the consolation final, Dent Wilkens defeated teammate Vincent Yu 9-3, 4-9, 9-6, 9-1. The win is all the more impressive for Wilkens considering he was the lowest-seeded player in the entire draw.