Dinerman ekes out Open Division win over Kent
The first open hardball tournament of the 21st century took place on the weekend of January 7-9, appropriately at one of squash's great cathedrals, the Merion Cricket Club in Haverford PA. Although the age-group players had already participated in a few events in December - the Sleepy Hollow and Harvard Club tourneys - the White was the first tournament of the 99-2000 season for Open players, whose six-player round robin competition devolved into a final-round meeting between Rob Dinerman and Merion member Tim Kent, the USSRA's # 3 and 4 ranked players respectively. Dinerman barely lived up to his one-rung-higher placement with an extremely competitive 16-13 (from 10-13 down), 15-11, 17-18 (on Kent's go-for-broke perfect backhand reverse-corner serve return on the game's last point), 15-12 victory that wasn't decided until Dinerman's final run from 10-all in the fourth. Kent's creative racquetwork and sharp shooting resulted in constant problems for Dinerman, who had had a 3-1 (2 overtimes) win over a surprisingly in-form Andy Nehrbas on his way to the final.

Fifty and Over: Zug prevails
Probably the deepest and most competitive of the six age-group events was the most junior, wherein second-seeded Jim Zug poste a pair of four-game wins over Walter Smedley and number one seed John Frazier, who had advanced over Bill Giese. All four are members of Merio, and each has a distinctive style. They have played each other enough so that every match-up becomes part of a long-standing and typically back and forth rivalry. These protagonists are also among the very top 50-plus players in the country, destined to battle each other all season.

Sixty and over: Marmor and Young again

The sixties came to Ted Marmor facing Lucky Young, and this time Young reversed their '99 Nationals result by winning in four, allowing only single figures in the match's second half after splitting the first two games. Recent 60's "alumnus" Pete Bostwick, who graduated to the 65's flight this year, duplicated the success he had enjoyed in his 65's debut at the Harvard Club one month earlier by beating Dorie Friend and Bob Herd, both in three games, though his Herd final required a match-closing overtime. Bostwick's pair of semi-final losses in 60's competition this season, contrasted with his undefeated 65's results, is a clear demonstration of the age group gap.

Wilson, Boddorff, Carroll

Tournament chairman Charlie Baker, whose enthusiasm and popularity have been keys to the solid tournaments this event has enjoyed for years, won in a close five game final over Myron Solin before losing in the semis of the 70's to Tom Dolan. Dolan then won the first game from top-seeded Bill Wilson (semifinal victor over Bob Penotti) before Wilson gradually pulled away to win the final in four.

The two oldest age categories, the four man 75's and the three man 80's were both contested in round robin format. Harold Boddorff and Tom Carroll, respectively, triumphed in decisive fashion over their competition.