Massachusetts Junior Open at Groton

January 2-4, 2009

This year’s Massachusetts Junior Open moved from Harvard to Groton School with its almost new facility of 12 courts around a central dais. This set-up was ideal for running the tournament smoothly, and the school itself, set in a lovely New England town, provided ample parking outside the Athletic Center which featured a large foyer to serve food, locker rooms and a very helpful staff. Hope and David Prockop, squash coaches, were most gracious and ever present. The tournament had eight age divisions, 29 draws and 173 entrants coming from as far away as Canada, Georgia, Washington and Michigan.

GU13: This draw was surprisingly small with only five entries. Surprising because there are many girls in this category in the region, but only a few came to play. Marina Hartnick won the round robin with a three game victory over finalist Samantha Chai.

GU15: Addie Fulton, a 12-year old from Stratton Mountain, VT, played up into this age group and won over a field of 23, besting Madeline Fraser (Brooklyn, NY) in four games. Addie defeated Kimran Bajwa in the semis while Madeline won over Lily Grant in the other semi. Dana Rapisarda, a recent new resident of the Boston area from Brooklyn, won the Consolation, Caroline Monrad won the Classic Plate and Becky Brownell won the Plate.

GU17: From a strong draw of 25, Jesse Pacheco, a product of New York’s City Squash urban program and the #2 player at St. George’s, defeated Middlesex’ Serena Fagan in the finals, completing the tournament without the loss of a game. Serena had a five game struggle in the semis with Ashley Brooks of the SquashBusters program and now attending Tabor Academy. Jesse defeated Nina Scott in the other semifinal who in turn won over Ashley in the 3rd/4th place playoff. Yuleissy Ramirez, another SquashBuster, won the Consolation over Deerfield’s Kathryn Grace Kaelin, Roxana Mead the Classic Plate and Hilary Evans (Greenwich) the Plate.

GU19: The oldest girls featured many strong players, no more in evidence than in the finals where Corey Schafer outlasted Dori Rahbar, Nobles’ #1, in five close games. Dori had had to spend a lot of energy in the semis edging Courtney Jones, #1 at St. George’s, in five very close games. Boston’s Alli Rubin (on her way to Williams next year, of all places!) had a nice four game win in the quarters over Ontario’s Juana Chaves before bowing to Corey in the semis. Page Duke of Middlesex won the Consolation in five over Hannah Coffin, Juana defeated practice partner Laura Caty (Buffalo) in the Classic Plate and Brooke Hammer won the Plate.

BU13: Cheraag Bajwa returned from school in India for his Christmas vacation and breezed through the BU13 draw without the loss of a game. There are several good young players in this group, including finalist Max Reed (Lebanon, NH) and semi-finalists Stephen Monrad and Timmy Brownell. Also strong are Blake Gilbert-Bono and Carson Spahr, winner and finalist in the Classic Plate. Justin Curtis took the Consolation and James Paolella the Plate.

BU15: Arhum Saleem traveled from Georgia with his older twin brothers to play in this tournament for a second year. Although small in stature, he moves around the court quickly and hits the ball harder than his size would suggest. He marched to the finals without the loss of a game to meet New York’s Guy Davidson, the top seed who had also not lost a game. The final was closely contested for two games before Guy wore Arhum down, finishing the match in four. Walker Evans (Greenwich) defeated Atticus Kelly (West Hartford) in the 3rd/4th playoff. William Paolella won the Consolation, Derek Buffum the Classic Plate and SquashBusters’ Christian Rodriguez the Plate.

BU17: This draw was the largest of the tournament with 35 entrants. It also featured the most upsets with only one of the top four seeds reaching the semi-finals. Third seeded John Steele from Philadelphia’s Episcopal Academy fell in the semis to John Lamont, a few days shy of his 17th birthday from Montreal. John and his father have been coming to this tournament for four years, travelling by bus as the elder Lamont does not drive. Perseverance has its rewards as on his fourth try John won the tournament, defeating Pehlaaj Bajwa in three. Steele defeated teammate Tyler Odell in the 3rd/4th place playoff. Sam Sokolsky-Tifft (Williamstown), the top seed, fell in the Classic Plate semis to Derek Chilvers who went on to win over Liam Quinn. Scott DeSantis won the Consolation on five over Nobles teammate Conor McClintock, and Cameron Rahbar won the Plate over Kelvin Chen.

BU19: More five game matches than ever were the feature of this draw as Taylor Foehl (Williamstown) edged Greg Crane (headed to Trinity next year) in a four game final. Taylor struggled to get by St, Marks’ #1, Russell Woeltz in a four game semi after Russell had squeezed by Milton’s John Nimmo, 13-11 in the 5th. Matthew Baker-White (Williamstown and going to Bates next year) survived a five game quarters with Chris Ivsin, and then had only a little left to go down in three to Crane in the semis. In another five gamer, Woeltz defeated Matthew in the 3rd/4th place playoff. Fittingly, Will Watkinson won the Consolation in five over Trevor Truog, John Nimmo over Chris Ivsin in five in the Classic Plate and Buffalo’s Elliot Johnston won the Plate (in four!)

The Massachusetts Junior Committee unanimously agreed that the Groton venue was very successful and hope to repeat this year’s success in 2010.

Tom Poor, for the Massachusetts Junior Committee