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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Trinity - Championship Final
Players Mentioned
Trinity Tops Princeton 8-1 To Win 10th Straight National Squash Crown
February 17, 2008 | Men's Squash
The streak lives on, as the Trinity men's squash team won its 10th straight national title with an 8-1 victory over the Princeton Tigers Sunday afternoon in Cambridge, Mass. The 2008 Ivy League champion, Princeton ends its season 10-2 and will return eight of its nine starters from the current CSA championship squad.
"Trinity was remarkably strong today," head coach Bob Callahan said afterwards. "They were too good for us. I am proud of the effort our team put forward all season and I congratulate Trinity for their performance over the weekend."
Playing the traditional three-round format, Princeton was hoping to be up 2-1 through the first set of matches. Instead, it found itself in a 3-0 hole and facing an almost impossible uphill climb. Trinity's Rushabh Vora picked up a win at No. 9, and teammates Manek Mathur and Supreet Singh both held 2-0 leads at No. 3 and No. 6. Princeton freshman David Letourneau, who had yet to lose a collegiate match, rallied from 8-1 down to win 10-9 at No. 3, but he fell 9-6 in the fourth game. Princeton sophomore Santiago Imberton, who held a 2-0 lead over Singh in the regular season before falling, won 9-2 in the third but couldn't sustain the momentum in the fourth game.
The Tigers needed to get momentum back quickly, and Trinity knew it. Instead, the Bantams kept their foot on the gas and put the match away. Simba Muhwati won 3-0 at No. 8, and Parth Sherma avenged a regular season loss with a 9-5, 9-1, 9-5 victory over Hesham El Halaby to clinch the 10th straight national crown. The lead went to 6-0 at the end of the second stage when Gustav Detter finished a three-game marathon win over Kimlee Wong 9-7, 9-4, 9-2.
Princeton picked up its only win when senior co-captain Tom McKay completed a perfect championship weekend with a 5-9, 9-1, 9-5, 9-6 victory over Randy Lim. McKay has been a consistently clutch performer for Callahan, and his toughness in the middle and bottom of the lineup will be missed next season. In a potential national final preview, Trinity No. 1 Baset Chaudhry swept Mauricio Sanchez 9-4, 9-1, 9-0, and Andres Varga topped David Canner in four games at No. 4 to finish off an 8-1 Trinity win.
The Tigers will return eight members of Sunday's final squad next season, including juniors Sanchez, Wong and El Halaby, each of whom have been part of three Ivy League championship teams and have played in the CSA national final every year.
TRINITY 8, PRINCETON 1
1 - Baset Chaudhry (T) d. Mauricio Sanchez 4, 1, 0
2 - Gustav Detter (T) d. Kimlee Wong 7, 4, 2
3 - Manek Mathur (T) d. David Letourneau 4, 1, (9-10), 6
4 - Andres Varga (T) d. David Canner 2, 4, (2), 5
5 - Parth Sherma (T) d. Hesham El Halaby 5, 1, 5
6 - Supreet Singh (T) d. Santiago Imberton 4, 7, (2), 4
7 - Tom McKay (P) d. Randy Lim (5), 1, 5, 6
8 - Simba Muhwati (T) d. Peter Sopher 4, 4, 6
9 - Rushabh Vora (T) d. Philip Sopher 2, 3, 2