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Trinity Holds Off Men's Squash In Exciting 5-4 Regular Season Finale
February 14, 2009 | Men's Squash
If these two teams should meet again for the national championship on Sunday, Feb. 22, it could set up one of the most exciting days ever in college men's squash. Unbeaten Trinity ran its win streak to 199 matches by fighting off a game Princeton Tiger squad Saturday in front of an excited crowd at the Jadwin Squash Courts.
Princeton gained the early momentum during the first session of matches. Freshman Chris Callis, playing in his first showdown against Trinity, showed great composure against the veteran Manek Mathur. Callis split the first two games before claiming the final two games to win the No. 3 spot.
Meanwhile, senior tri-captain Hesham El Halaby took care of business by sweeping Supreet Singh at the No. 6 spot. Princeton came within one game of taking a shocking 3-0 lead, but Trinity's Chris Binnie fought off a game Peter Sopher for a 3-2 victory.
The second session went to Trinity, and it was led by its four-year starter Gustav Detter, who swept Kimlee Wong at the No. 2 spot. Vikram Malhotra defeated Princeton's Santiago Imberton at the No. 8 spot, but the Tigers did get a 3-0 win from David Canner at No. 5 to even the match at three with only three matches left to play.
That was when the real drama began. It began at the No. 4 spot, where Princeton's David Letourneau claimed a 9-2 win in the first game, but dropped the next two to fall into a 2-1 hole. The Princeton sophomore raced out to a 7-2 lead in the fourth game, but Parth Sharma clawed back into it and ended up winning both the game and the match.
Trinity led 4-3 at that point, but Princeton held one-game leads in the remaining two matches. At the No. 7 spot, freshman Kelly Shannon led Andres Varga two games to one and 3-1 in the fourth game, while senior tri-captain Mauricio Sanchez held a 1-0 lead over Baset Chaudhry at the No. 1 spot, marking the first time Sanchez took a game off the 2008 national champion.
The Princeton momentum would be short-lived, though. Shannon, who has been injured for the last month and hadn't played a match in 2009, just couldn't hold on against Varga and eventually fell in a 3-2 thriller. Sanchez watched a 2-0 lead evaporate into a 2-2 tie, but the Tiger senior fought back in the fifth game for his first win against Trinity's top player.
Both teams are favorites to meet again next Sunday in the national team final, which will also be held at the Jadwin Squash Courts. This loss will give Princeton the tougher road; as the 2-seed, the Tigers will likely see a strong Yale team in the national semifinal on Saturday.
GoPrincetonTigers.com will have a full preview of the national team championships during the week.
1) Mauricio Sanchez (P) d. Baset Chaudhry 7, 5, (6), (9-10), 2
2) Gustav Detter (T) d. Kimlee Wong 6, 4, 4
3) Chris Callis (P) d. Manek Mathur (7), 10-8, 4, 10-9
4) Parth Sharma (T) d. David Letourneau (2), 3, 2, 10-8
5) David Canner (P) d. Randy Lim 3, 10-9, 10-9
6) Hesham El Halaby (P) d. Supreet Singh 7, 5, 6
7) Andres Vargas (T) d. Kelly Shannon 2, (2), (2), 5, 3
8) Vikram Malhotra (T) d. Santiago Imberton 6, 2, 6
9) Chris Binnie (T) d. Peter Sopher 2, (10-8), 1, (7), 2