US Championships & Skill Levels

By Jay D. Prince

Photos by Jay D. Prince and Randall Scott

2002 US Championship

After a year of anticipation, the 2002 United States Championships and Skill Level Championships were held at historic Yale University from March 14-17. While the anticipation of such a large national event generally surrounds the matches themselves, this year's excitement was squarely aimed at Yale's Brady Squash Center.

From 1996-1999, the squash facility at Yale underwent a major transformation from its original 25 American singles courts and two doubles courts to its current 15 international courts. To say the updated facility is awesome doesn't do it justice—which is part of the reason over 400 players made the journey to New Haven, CT. If there is a squash facility in the world that is worth the trip just to see it, Yale might very well be it. Where else can a player find so many courts in one building that includes a permanent all-glass court and two three-glass-wall courts?

Of course, this was nationals, and once the players regained their composure and closed their mouths, the business of playing squash got under way. 670 matches, 3,456 eight ounce bottles of water, 1,500 towels, 50 cases of beer, and four days later, champions were crowned in 33 divisions.

Those who helped devour the water and beer will remember this year's US Championships for things that happened on the fabulous Yale courts as well. There was Irishman Andre Maur, the noted tournament promoter with a keen eye for Jamaica, wearing his kelly green shamrock sweatpants while strutting his stuff against Squash Magazine's own Will Carlin—St. Patty's day was only two days off. That in itself drew a crowd, not to mention the silent ire of Carlin, who was none-too-happy about his opponent not feeling the need to take off the sweats. Speaking of Carlin, he was the only Yale grad returning to his alma mater as a former national champion. There was Diniar Alikhan staging a remarkable comeback during his 40+ semifinal versus Michigan's Jeff Sneyd. Alikhan staved off several match balls in the fifth before winning 10-8. Tim Wyant eliminated crowd favorite Richard Chin in the quarterfinals of the SL Green before being stopped himself by eventual repeat winner, Damian Walker. On the women's side, there was Meredeth Quick taking out defending champion Shabana Khan who was suffering the effects of the flu, while Latasha Khan avoided an upset in the quarters to Michelle Quibell who held a 2-0 advantage.

Some more statistical facts/oddities: Richard Elliott (M35+ winner) surrendered four points more in his tournament than did Nathan Dugan—and Dugan played only one and a half matches to Elliott's four (Daniel Sharplin retired due to injury during his M25+ final with Dugan). Looked at another way, Kenton Jernigan and Grantley Pinnington (M35+) scored 18 points between them in the first game of their quarterfinal match—Elliott lost only 15 points in his entire tournament. By the way, he scored 118! Even more impressive, Chris Burrows dropped only 14 points in the M50+—though Tom Metz retired with injury during his semifinal with Burrows. Before that looks too gaudy, Jay Nelson dropped only 13 points in his four-match run to the 60+ title.

Finally, for the first time in recent memory, the men's draws included feed-in consolation matches for losers in the second round. Though the additional matches kept Tournament Director Mike Hymer hopping, the additional play made for happy men who got more for their entry fee. This year's event was unique for the women as well in that all of the women's matches were held at Yale rather than at an outside facility. In the past, it has been typical to host the women's matches at a different venue when there has been a need to split matches between different locations. This year, Choate Rosemary School was utilized for the early rounds of the men's skill levels while the women “stayed home.” This proved to be an excellent choice as it fostered the feeling of a complete nationals.

Next year's host city for the US Championships and Skill Levels has not yet been determined, though efforts are being made to send the event back to the West Coast. In the meantime, memories from Yale '02 will be long-lasting and facilities everywhere will have their work cut out for them to offer the quality found at the campus named after Elihu Yale who, after the college was moved to New Haven from its original home of Saybrook in 1717, donated “nine bales of goods worth £562, 417 books, and a portrait and arms of King George I.” Undoubtedly, Nicholas Brady did not get naming rights to the Brady Squash Center so easily.

Also, please see “Jim Murray” and “Is That a Hockey Helmet?” for more Nationals stories.

(For complete coverage of the US Nationals, please pick up a copy of the May 2002 issue of Squash Magazine.)

Full results:
US Championships
Skill Levels