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Pro Women’s Doubles Tour Debuts This Weekend
By Rob Dinerman, Nov 15, 2007    
Squashtalk Independent News; © 2007 SquashTalk LLC

The Women’s Squash Doubles Tour (WDSA) will have its inaugural event, the $ 20,000 Field Club Open, this coming weekend at the nearby Greenwich Country Club. Founded by Rob and Narelle Krizek, the husband-and-wife team who head the squash program at the Field Club (whose doubles court is currently being refurbished, hence the change of venue for the matches), the WDSA has as its two-part goal the enhancement of women’s doubles squash on the professional and amateur level and the establishment of ongoing relationships with the local charities and urban programs. The notion of creating a women’s doubles tour first arose in the wake of a highly successful women’s and mixed doubles tournament late last winter as part of an ISDA men’s pro tournament at the Denver Athletic Club, which also plans to host a WDSA event several months hence.

The WDSA clearly has as its model the ISDA, which has grown substantially during the eight years since its formation nearly eight years ago, and it therefore seems somewhat fitting that Steph Hewitt, whose husband James is the ISDA Executive Director and ranked in the top 15, is seeded No. 1 this weekend along with her partner Narelle Krizek. The pair won both the ’06 World Women’s and ’07 Canadian Women’s titles in Toronto during the past 19 months, and came within a simultaneous-match-point of capturing the ’07 U. S. Nationals crown as well at the Merion Cricket Club last March before being edged out by Meredeth Quick and Fiona Geaves. Krizek and Hewitt also memorably OPPOSED each other in April ’04 in Boston in the final of that year’s edition of the U. S. Mixed tourney, which had never in its several-decade history had even ONE husband/wife team reach that stage but which in this case matched TWO such contingents, with the Krizeks eventually leading 14-10 in the fifth game only to have the Hewitts (who late last month won the Convenor’s Cup, a high-end mixed event in Toronto) generate a 5-0 match-saving surge to 15-14.

Facing the Krizek/Hewitt duo Friday night in the quarterfinal opening round will be the Belknap twin sisters, Mary McKee and Berkeley Revenaugh, in a rematch of last year’s U. S. Nationals semis. Also in that half are the Philadelphia team of Amy Milanek and Orla Doherty, who will go up against fourth seeds and ’07 William White finalists Dana Betts and Emily Lungstrum, both of Heights Casino. Down below, second seeds Quick and Karen Jerome will oppose Lee Belknap (who last winter partnered Jerome to the White championship) and Marci Sier, while three-time Canadian Women’s and three-time Canadian Mixed title-holder Jessica Dimauro and WISPA top-five Natalie Grainger (who won the Denver Mixed flight last spring along with Chris Walker) will take on whoever wins a preliminary-round match this afternoon between Jessica Lefevre/Lauren Doline and Libby Welch/Marie Vlcek. The semis are set for 5:00 and 6:00 on Saturday evening, with the final scheduled for 1:00 Sunday afternoon. Along with this pro draw, here will be women’s and mixed pro-ams played at the Country Club and several other clubs in the nearby Connecticut/Westchester area.

In addition to the confirmed events in Greenwich this weekend and in Denver in March, the WDSA is also in the process of pursuing sites in Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Westchester. The initial response has been highly encouraging on the part of players, patrons and potential sponsors alike, and much more information on the WDSA can be found on the newly established web site www.wdsatour.com.

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