College Squash Raquets Feature Articles by Squash Talk (college sports)

Something Old meets Something New

By Kirsten Carlson, www.squashtalk.com, © 2007 SquashTalk.com
all electronic and print rights reserved.

Siebert wins Constable; Princeton wins Mayor's Cup

January 14th, Grand Central Terminal, New York City.

SIEBERT CLAIMS CONSTABLE
This weekend saw tradition followed up by cutting edge, as two events showcased individual players in very different settings. The weekend began early on Friday at Princeton with the 29 th Constable Invitational. The best players from Trinity, Mount Holyoke and Princeton descended onto the Tigers' campus Friday, and fittingly at the end of Saturday, it was a Tiger who claimed the trophy.

No. 3 seed Amanda Siebert made her way past three Trinity players, including No. 4 seed Tehani Guruge in the final to claim the title. In the semis Siebert had what she described as her most difficult match, against teammate Emery Maine.

"It was physically the toughest match," Siebert said of the five-game match. " I had to play well."

Though she took the fifth game easily, Siebert said of Maine, "She hit a few tins in the beginning. I got lucky."

The format of the Constable is a testament to the fitness of the players who participate. They played two matches on Friday, and two on Saturday, with just a couple hours for rest in between.

The event was designed in 1978 by Betty Howe Constable, the legendary Princeton women's coach and an advocate for women's sports. Originally it featured the top-16 female players in the country, but has over the years started to feature a few top schools and their best players.

"There are not that many individual tournaments for college players to participate in," Siebert said. "When we play other schools, we play one match. When you play individual tournaments, there are so many matches. The excitement lasts for days, and takes over whole weekend which is fun. It is nice to play players from other schools that are at different position on the ladder. When you are No. 2, you always play the other No. 2 players. "

The Constable is one of the oldest tournaments in women's intercollegiate squash," said Princeton women's coach Gail Ramsay. "It separates women's squash from the men, and gives them their own showcase. It is also a great tournament because, other than the individual championships, it is the only time they play on their own. It helps toward getting an All American ranking and gives the kids some recognition."

AND THEN FOR SOMETHING NEW - THE MAYORS CUP

Amanda Siebert (right) won the Constable Invitational but fell to Miranda Ranieri in the Mayor's Cup.

After playing at the Constable, Siebert and Maines' busy weekend continued. They trekked up to New York to play in the inaugural Mayor's Cup against Yale at the Tournament of Champions. Joining the women were men's team members David Letourneau, Kimlee Wong and Tom McKay. Representing Yale were Miranda Ranieri, Logan Greer, and seniors Moshe Sarfaty, Ho Ming Chiu and Max Samuel.

Each pair of players played for 12 minutes and then were immediately replaced by new team members. The player who had the most points at the end of each 12 minute stretch, won the game for their school, adding one point to the cumulative team score.

The 12-minute time format proved to be a bit long in a few of the matches. The problem being that if one player got far ahead right away, the crowd was left waiting anxiously for the next game as the winner had been determined early on and it was simply a matter of the clock running down and hoping for a more competitive next game.

Sarfaty of Yale played first, against Tom McKay. Both player's looked tentative, having been thrust onto the New York stage, but McKay settled first and gained a sizeable lead. He didn't look back. Safarty's response showed the potential of this new "speed squash" format, as he desperately responded to his deficit by attacking more - first with a flurry of attacking boasts, then with pace, then with speeding up his serve. But each stratagem failed him. After that, when he realized there was still six minutes left in the game, he thought, "Let's make this fun," and tried to play his best squash while hoping to entertain the crowd.

"It was a great, great event to play in," Sarfaty said. "It is such an amazing venue, and such a good crowd. It was a great experience and a lot of fun."

"In such a match, when you fall far behind really quickly, it is tough to come back," he continued. "Perhaps next time, make it three games up to five for each player, so that you have a chance to come back."

The way the games panned out by the end, made for an overall exciting match. Princeton took the first game, then Greer claimed a fairly easy win for Yale by defeating Maine. Though the score was close, Greer had earned an early margin and conservatively maintained it. Princeton regained the advantage when Letourneau defeated Chiu quite handily.

The game of the match was between Ranieri, the #1 ranked college player, and Siebert. Amanda Siebert, coming off her Constable win the previous evening, started fast. The Princeton No. 2 went up 7-2 right away, but the Yale senior settled her nerves, came back to even the score. At that point, a series of extremely well played points gripped the crowd. Ranieri eventually surged ahead to take the game after a hard fought 12 minutes.

With the score line even, it came down to Wong and Samuel. Wong won convincingly, clinching the Mayor's Cup for Princeton.

"I think it was a good idea," Siebert said. "They should definitely do it again next year."

"I thought it was a great opportunity to get the men and women college players out of the college scene and to give them a chance to see another side of squash," Ramsay said. "It was a fun exhibition scene. They were all excited to play. It was great that John Nimick thought of us and that Dave (Talbott) wanted to do it."

Overall, it was a successful first outing for the event, with a full year to tweak some things to make it even better.

Mayor's Cup, New York City

Results
Princeton 3 - Yale 2:
Men's #3: Tommy McKay (P) def Moshe Safarty (Y) 20-13
Women's #2: Logan Greer (Y) def Emery Maine (P) 25-19
Men's #2: David Letourneau (P) def Ho Ming Chiu (Y) 23-14
Women's #1: Miranda Ranieri (Y) def Amanda Siebert (P) 18-15
Men's #1: Kimlee Wong (P) def Max Samuel (Y) 21-11

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