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Greg/Steve Park Retain Father/Son Doubles Title
By Rob Dinerman, April 22, 2008    
Squashtalk Independent News; © 2008 SquashTalk LLC

Hilberts, Scherls, Spahrs and McLains Also Win Titles  

Trailing 2-1, 11-8 in their semifinal match early yesterday morning against a redoubtable opponent featuring one of the top professional players on the ISDA tour, Steve Park and his power-hitting son Greg conjured up an 8-0 run to close out that game (against three-time U. S. Doubles Open champion Preston Quick and his father, Taylor), arm-fought their way through a 15-12 fifth, then surged to a 13-15 15-4 15-12 15-9 final-round victory over ’06 champs and ’07 runners-up Scott and Will Simonton to successfully defend the U. S. Father & Son Open Doubles title that they had won last year. By winning this rematch of the ’07 final, the Parks became the first repeat winner in the Open division of this championship, now in its fourth year, each of which has seen the entries grow (to 49 teams this year) and each of which has been co-chaired in praiseworthy fashion by Morris Clothier and Simon Aldrich.

The keys to both the Parks’ Sunday victories were (1) Steve’s ability to fend off the powerful salvos that both opposing sons (i.e., first Preston Quick and then Will Simonton) frequently fired in his direction, (2) Greg’s retrieving skills, especially in the front-right quadrant of the court, where he frequently scurried to cover in front of Steve, and (3) most importantly, Greg’s imposing weaponry, which accounted for at least 80% of his team’s winners and which currently consists of many more elements, especially in the diversity his short game now possesses, than was the case as recently as a year ago. He normally plays the right wall, with Rob Whitehouse as his partner in a tandem that this past season won the Jimmy Dunn event (over Clothier and Trevor McGuinness in an 18-17 fifth-game final) and came within a game of reaching the U. S. Nationals final before being edged out in a route-going semi against ’07 Canadian Nationals champs Clothier and Scott Stoneburgh.

But while the younger Park normally relies on his noteworthy power when stationed on the right wall, his left-wall game features a variety of stinging corner-shots and three-walls that consistently added points to his team’s total throughout the weekend. Both Parks had been sidelined with leg injuries for substantial stretches this past winter, but both were at 100% strength by the time this tourney rolled around --- as they needed to be, especially since they went into the final having weathered a significantly more difficult semi than had the Simontons, who had blanked ’05 Father & Son finalists Bill and Will Broadbent in the draw’s bottom half, and who immediately jumped out to an 11-6 lead in the first game of the final, which they eventually won 15-13 when a Will Simonton cross-court blast forced a racquet error from Steve Park on the game’s final point.

In retrospect, the match’s outcome may have ultimately been defined by the first eight points of the second game, all of which landed swiftly (in less than four minutes) in the Parks’ column. The Simonton pairing, which had been mostly error-free in the opening stanza, tinned away four of the game’s first five points, twice on serve-returns, thereby giving the Parks a hold on the match’s momentum that they would never fully relinquish, either in that one-sided game or at any point thereafter. To be sure, the Simontons would have their moments during the subsequent two games --- Scott’s improved conditioning level enhanced his mobility over previous years and his crafty short game left its mark as well, while Will, though often evincing exasperation as the match turned against his team, kept firing away with the southpaw forehand power that had brought him to the Intercollegiate Doubles final earlier this decade during his years at Penn --- but they always seemed to be playing from behind, usually three or four points’ worth, and whenever they WERE able to make a run, it was interrupted either by a tin (Will Simonton’s bad one at 12-14 after they had saved two game-balls in the third being probably the most costly example) or by a Greg Park winner, like the three in a row that he hit (the last a look-away forehand roll-corner off the back wall that caught both Simontons flat-footed) in the close-out fourth game to build a 14-7 lead and effectively seal the victory.

The younger Park then hit tins on the following pair of points, possibly in an attempt to end the match with a flourish, but on the third match-ball, his cross-court serve-return caused Scott Simonton to tin an attempted volley rail and the Parks had earned the right to carry the Page Cup --- a permanent standing trophy donated by former USSRA CEO Palmer Page in honor of his deceased father, Ray, and talented younger brother, Tom --- back to their home in Philadelphia.

As noted, there were four other competitive Father & Son flights as well, namely the Century, which Jim and Jamie McLain captured in a three-game final over Pete and Petey Bostwick; the 15-and-under, a new category, which was won by former WPSA top-10 pro Larry Hilbert and his son, Patrick, winners of the ’06 13-and-under event; and divisions for age 13-and-under and 17-and-under, both of which featured exciting five-game finals. In the 17’s final, a rematch of the ’07 final, defending champs John and Jack Ervasti strode to a two games to love lead over Michael Scherl and his son Zeke, only to be overtaken when Zeke noticeably upgraded his level enough to turn the tide of the match through two single-figure games and the 15-12 fifth.

The 13’s final featured highly entertaining play, amazing performances by both sons, wild swings in momentum and, ultimately, a 15-11 12-15 18-13 14-17 15-10 victory for current University Club of Boston head pro Chris Spahr (who partnered Doug Lifford to the ’07 U. S. 40-and-over championship) and his 10-year-old son Carson (who wowed the crowd with his precocious play, pretty much stealing the show and becoming the youngest-ever winner of a Father & Son title) over Ted Murphy, a solid player in his own right who nearly neutralized Chris Spahr in their left-wall battles, and his talented son, Hayes. The Murphy pair led 13-12 in the third game, only to lose 12 straight points carrying through the best-of-nine tiebreaker and to a 6-0 deficit in the fourth. They then embarked upon a 14-4 spurt of their own to lead 14-10, only to drop the next four points, the last two on tins by Hayes, who however redeemed himself with three straight winning shots in a sweep of the ensuing best-of-five tiebreaker.

Throughout the match, including during the evenly divided first 16 points of the fifth game, Chris Spahr appeared to be trying to strike the proper balance between his desire to win and his wish to have it be an enjoyable learning experience for his young son as well as for Hayes (both fathers behaved admirably in this regard, in this flight and the other two “junior” age-group finals as well). At 10-9 in the fifth, he covered a right-front drop shot and conjured up a Philadelphia-boast that landed for a winner in the deep recesses of the court, following which Carson came up with a pair of shallow rail-winners leading to an eventual 15-10 tally. It will be interesting to see how the careers of the youngsters and many teenagers who participated this weekend evolve; certainly many of them appear to be off to remarkably promising starts, based on their play in this tournament.

Finals Recap (as throughout this article, the names of the fathers are mentioned first)

Open: Steve and Greg Park d Scott and Will Simonton, 3-1
Century: Jim and Jamie McLain d Pete and Petey Bostwick, 3-0
17-and-Under: Michael and Zeke Scherl d John and Jack Ervasti, 3-2
15-and-Under: Round-Robin won by Larry and Patrick Hilbert
13-and-Under: Chris and Carson Spahr d Ted and Hayes Murphy, 3-2

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