USSRA Mixed Doubles Quarters: Quick & Quick advance
By Rob Dinerman; SquashTalk © 2006; all rights of reproduction reserved.
Mar 4 , 2006     

Each of a very talented group of top-four seeds strode confidently into the semifinal round of the 37th annual U. S. National Mixed Doubles Championships, hosted this year at the Cynwyd Club in suburban Philadelphia. They include the most accomplished player in the history of North American doubles, a husband-wife team, a brother-sister team and the recently crowned Canadian National Mixed Doubles champions, which means that Sunday's final two rounds should be electrifying.

Top seeds Jessie Chai and ISDA superstar Gary Waite, who won this event five years ago in Boston in Waite's most recent participation in this event prior to this weekend, were byed to the quarters of this 15-team tourney, where they won three competitive games against Dana Betts and Greg Park. Their opponents tomorrow morning will be Rob and Narelle Tippett Krizek, who won the Maryland State MEN'S Open title a few years ago and held multiple-match-points in the final round of the U. S. Mixed two years ago before losing 15-14 in the fifth to the similarly husband-wife team of James and Stephanie Hewitt.

The bottom-half semifinal will pit second seeds Scott Dulmage, who won the North American Open Doubles crown with Waite in 1994, and Jessica Dimauro, fresh off their two-week-old Canadian Mixed title (at the final-round expense of the Hewitts), against ISDA standout Preston Quick and his younger sister Meredeth, who won the most closely contested quarterfinal of Saturday's action when they nosed out Eric Vlcek and Lee Belknap by a 15-12, 14 and 13 tally.

Belknap and Vlcek held double-game-point in the second before losing on a Meredeth Quick backhand drop shot at 14-all that barely cleared the tin.

The Quicks converted their third match-point in the ensuing game when Vlcek nailed a cross court up the middle that hit his partner Belknap on the leg just as Meredeth Quick was about to call for a let. An unusual ending to a very high-quality and entertaining match. The bottom-half matches today and tomorrow have some intertwining elements as well dating back to that '04 National Doubles in Chicago, where Vlcek and Preston Quick, who battled it out on the left wall today, won their second consecutive men's title and Dimauro and Meredeth Quick, who will be jockeying for position on the right wall tomorrow, partnered each other to the finals of the women's tourney.

None of the top four seeded teams has dropped a game so far, nor has No. 1 40-and-over seeds Tom Harrity and Kat Van Blarcom, who won the Open draw in late January in the Merion Cricket Club Mixed tournament. Their final-round opponent in that event was this weekend's No. 2 40's seeds Tim Kent and Dawn Gray, who advanced today to the semis in four games over Jennifer Edson and John Spofford. Kent and Gray will face Molly Pierce and Jamie Heldring, who out-played Canadian Mixed 40's runners-up Pat Richardson and Lolly Gillen, while Joyce Davenport and Andy Nehrbas qualified to play Harrity/Van Blarcom when they shot their way to victory this afternoon over Sara Luther and Jeffrey Welch.

This year's tournament for the first time also offered a 50-and-over flight, which had five entries and is being played as a round-robin.

Open Recap

Rd of 16:
Gary Waite/Jessie Chai bye;
Dana Betts/Greg Park d Cairn Meek/Rob Dinerman, 3-1;
Alan Grant/Caro Paskulin d Tripper Heckscher/Kellen Heckscher, 3-0;
Rob Krizek/Narelle Krizek d Vijay Chitnis/Logan Greer, 3-0;
Preston Quick/Meredeth Quick d Dani Davis/James Rogers, 3-0;
Eric Vlcek/Lee Belknap d Britt Hebden/Kevin Klipstein, 3-0;
Morris Clothier/Amy Milanek d Abbott Cooper/Brooke Cooper, 3-0;
Scott Dulmage/Jessica Dimauro d Baird McIlvain/Ali Ogelsby, 3-0.

Qtrs:
Waite/Chai d Betts/Park, 3-0;
N. Krizek/R. Krizek d Grant/Paskulin, 3-0; P.
Quick/M. Quick d Vlcek/Belknap, 3-0;
Dulmage/Dimauro d Clothier/Milanek, 3-0.

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