MINNESOTA SQUASH NEWS APRIL 2016

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1 MINNESOTA SQUASH NEWS APRIL 2016 What a Week! 2016 Minnesota State Singles and Doubles Squash Championships Are in the Books The Minnesota Squash Association hosted the Minnesota State Singles, Doubles and Juniors Squash Championships, starting April 11, 2016 through April 17, 2016 at The Commodore Squash Club and Life Time Minneapolis Athletic Club. There were over 130 playing participants and multiple friends, relatives, fans and spectators in attendance over the course of the week leading up to the Dinner on Saturday night at the Commodore and the finals on Sunday. Saturday Night Dinner at the Commodore Squash Club

2 Here are the results of the 2016 Minnesota State Squash Championships (for all results click through to ): International Singles 2.5 Division Champion: Atreyus A. Bhavsar Runner Up: Courtney C. Pietras 3 rd Place: Vishal Dasani Consolation Winner: Geetha Rajaram 3.0 Division Champion: John Thompson Runner Up: Merrick Thompson 3 rd Place: Nate Iliff Consolation Winner: Izzy Iliff 3.5 Division Champion: Josef Reiser Runner Up: Srini Sathyamurthy 3 rd Place: Joseph Henry Consolation Winner: Larry DeVore 3.5 Finalists Josef Reiser and Srini Sathyamurthy

3 4.0 Division Champion: Pierce Norton Runner Up: Thierry Fernaine Consolation Winner: Sheldon Vaz MSA President Sheldon Vaz, Thierry Fernaine and Pierce Norton 4.5 Division (round robin) Champion: Andy Wiegand Runner Up: Griffin Foley 5.0 Division Champion: K.T. Ng Runner Up: Tim McNamara Consolation Winner: Saviz Artang 5.5 Division Champion: Matt Hildebrand Runner Up: Aaron Zenner Consolation Winner: Sho Gupta

4 Lead Sponsor, Eric Zolnosky (The Net Guys), Aaron Zenner, Matt Hildebrand, MSA President Sheldon Vaz Women s Open Division Champion: Anne Robertson Runner Up: Nicol Kirchof 3 rd Place: Salina Tirtajana Consolation Winner: Suimay Lee Women s Finalists Anne Robertson and Nicole Kirchof; 70+ Finalists Ken Weir and John Stever 70+ Division Champion: John Stever Runner Up: Edward (Ken) Weir

5 Hardball Doubles Century Open Doubles (Round Robin) Champions: Frank Fairman & Ivan Martinez Runner up: Kevin Scanlon & Jhon Wlaschin Mixed Doubles (Round Robin) Champions: Kevin Scanlon and Kitty Higinbotham Runner Up: John and Amy O'Brien Mixed Doubles Finalists Kevin Scanlon, Kitty Higinbotham, Amy O'Brien and John O'Brien C Division Champions: Paul Bischel and Nader Elsayed Runners Up: William Martinez and Merrick Thompson 3 rd Place: Josef Reiser and Srini Sathyamurthy C Doubles Finalists: Nader Elsayed, Merrick Thompson William Martinez and Paul Bischel

6 B Division Champions: Tim McNamara and Eric Zolnosky Runners Up: Gordon Hendrickson and Jhon Wlaschin Consolation Winner: Sho Gupta and K.T. Ng A Division Champions: Jeff Mulligan and Aaron Zenner Runners Up: Jay Del Carmen and Ivan Martinez A Doubles Champs Aaron Zenner and Jeff Mulligan (with future squash stars) and Finalists Jay Del Carmen and Ivan Martinez Congratulations to the 2016 winners and huge thank you to all participants! The Minnesota Squash Association wants to especially thank our 2016 tournament Sponsors: The Network Guys Transportation Distribution Services (TDS) Allied Parking Atlas Precision Sheet Metal Solutions Crystal Farms Dougherty, Mary J & J Distributing Lancer Catering Premium Water Prime Real Estate, LLC Red Cow Shamrock Construction

7 Signarama SpartanNash (Our Family) Tealwood Asset Management Twin Cities Orthopedics US Squash The generosity of these sponsors makes our tournament and all of the operations of our organization possible. Please patronize these businesses and help support squash in Minnesota! Thanks also to John O Brien and Jeff Mulligan of the Commodore Squash Club, John Wilinski and Shoby Gul of Life Time and Bob Massey of the Minneapolis Club for all of their help, assistance and use of their facilities for our tournament. The MSA Board also wishes to thank all of the tournament participants for their flexibility and understanding in adjusting schedules, delayed matches and general all around good spirits throughout the week. Finally, on behalf of MSA, President Sheldon Vaz, we give a huge thank you to the MSA Board members: Paul Bischel, James Boileau, Paul Finkelstein, Todd Iliff, Tim O Toole, Sheldon Vaz, and Cathy Walsh for their tireless efforts at putting the tournament together and running the operation. Finally, a very special thank you goes to our immediate past-president Paul Bischel, for his amazing work at scheduling the draws for the tournament and in adeptly handling the myriad changes and rescheduling that goes on during the week. Thank you everyone! JUNIORS CORNER 2016 STATE JUNIORS CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS: Open AAA Draw 1st place: William Martinez Runner-up: Merrick Thompson AA Draw 1st place: Niharika Bhavsar Runner-up: Calvin Vasicek Would anyone believe that just five short years ago the MSA junior state championship s included coach assisted games and the two serve rule? The 2016 event on Saturday April 16 saw some phenomenal games with many going into tiebreakers in both division levels and with some best of 3 matches running well over 30 minutes! Congratulations to the 2016 winners and many thanks to all participants and parents!

8 Also Coming Soon. Junior Touring League The MSA is working with local clubs and programs to create an ongoing touring league for junior players (19 and under). The concept would include regular team and match play be teams from each club/program. The teams will travel to home and home series among participating clubs/venues. We are looking to start this program as soon as possible. For more information, please contact your club pro/program director or the MSA: Todd Iliff, Communications Chair, ; or And MSA Hosted National Junior Bronze Tournaments The MSA is working with US Squash and local clubs in an effort to bring US Squash sanctioned national tournaments to the Twin Cities. Watch this space for further developments coming soon!

9 UPCOMING EVENTS THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA SPRING SQUASH CLASSIC APRIL 29-30, 2016 TOURNAMENT LOCATION: University of Minnesota Recreation and Wellness Center MATCH TIMES: Matches begin at 4:00 PM on April 29, and 9:00 AM on April 30. DEADLINE: ENTRY FEE: Registrations are DUE MONDAY April 25, Brackets will be ed to participants no later than 2:00PM on Thursday, April 28. $30 General Entry $15 All students and juniors Contact John Stever at or or "Brittany" LIFE TIME ST. LOUIS PARK MONTHLY ULTIMATE SQUASH CHALLENGE Shoby Gul of Life Time will be hosting another in the continuing series of Ultimate Squash Challenge Events at Life Time St. Louis Park on April 30 th and on May 21 st. This is a fast and fun Saturday morning event with multiple levels (A, B, C, and Juniors). Please contact Shoby Gul, MGul@lifetimefitness.com for details. ATTENTION: LADIES! HOWE CUP TEAM Minnesota is looking to form a team to enter the Howe Cup competition to be held in November 2016: The Howe Cup is the United States largest squash event for women and an annual team championship tournament run by US Squash. The 2016 venue is yet to be determined. The team is looking for players who might be interested. Contact: Nicole Kirchhof, nkirchhof@comcast.net.

10 SEND US YOUR SQUASH NEWS! The Minnesota Squash Association is pleased to announce that we will be continuing the regular publication of this Minnesota Squash News newsletter to be distributed to our lists of squash enthusiasts. But we need your help! Can you provide us with any news, events of interest or other squash related matters at your club/program? We want to know about local players success in tournaments or events, etc. If you know of any interesting stories to share with the squash community, we want to hear from you. We can also publicize upcoming events at your venue if desired. Contact any MSA Board member or us at or Todd Iliff Board Member/Communications Chair ;