Yehia Takes Rochester Event
April 13, 2004 by Rob Dinerman; SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004 

Kerim Yehia — Rochester Winner (photo © 2004 Debra Tessier)

Trailing 12-9 in the fifth game of his quarter-final round and seemingly on the verge of oblivion, top seed Karim Yehia escaped that early-tournament dilemma and went on to win the Rochester Pro-Am, a 16-man PSA Challenger tournament held on the first weekend of April at the Peter Lyman Courts on the University Of Rochester campus.

In so doing, Yehia, who for the past few years has been the assistant pro at the New York Athletic Club in mid-town Manhattan, won the last six points to repulse the strong challenge of his Egyptian compatriot Ahmed Hamza, survived a close final two rounds later ahainst second seed and 2004 Mardi Gras champion Patrick Chifunda, took home the winner's share of the $2600 purse and consolidated the good performance he had at the Tournament Of Champions six weeks earlier, when he edged out Alex Stait 15-14 in the fifth to successfully qualify his way into the main draw of that major championship.

Patrick Chifunda — Rochester Finalist (photo © 2004 Debra Tessier)

Hamza, recently arrived in the U. S., where he currently works at Westchester Squash, has remarkable reach and mobility, qualities that contributed to both his solid first-round win over Cornell No. 1 Matthew Serediak and his airtight victories in the second and third games (15-13 and 17-16 respectively) and the 2-1 lead he therefore enjoyed over Yehia at the break. After falling well behind in the fourth game and letting that 15-8 stanza slip away, he then rallied strongly in the middle portion of the decisive fifth, nullifying his opponent's all-court attack but paying a price himself in the process. Though he stood just three points from victory, Hamza by that stage had been so extended that he was unable to muster the offense necessary to complete the task, and throughout the six-point match-ending run against him he was increasingly out-positioned and on the defensive.

PSA No. 77 Yehia's semi-final opponent, Lucky Odeh, had ironically been assisted to that level of the draw by a doubles exhibition match between the round of 16 and the quarters that featured several ISDA players, one of whom, Josh McDonald, sustained a back injury resulting from a mid-court collision that greatly affected him when he opposed Odeh later that day. Constrained in his ability to run or stretch as a consequence of this mishap, McDonald was forced to go for low-percentage shots, with predictably metallic results, and after dropping the first game via a one-sided 15-8 margin, McDonald retired rather than risk worsening his back condition and possibly imperiling his and partner Viktor Berg's chances for the important run of ISDA tournaments that lies ahead in the next few weeks.

The ISDA tour has had a number of injuries to key performers in recent months, from Blair Horler's knee operation to Jamie Bentley's partially torn tendon in his left foot to Gary Waite's injured right wrist in a fluke skateboarding accident a few weeks ago, and McDonald understandably did not wish to add to that list, especially at this crucial juncture of the season.

After defeating Odeh in fairly routine straight-set fashion, Yehia confronted second seed Patrick Chifunda, also a successful Tournament Of Champions qualifier and recently crowned Mardi Gras champion, in the final. The latter had won in a close four in his quarter-final with Clive Leach, a former Psa No. 26 and currently one of the top players on the ISDA circuit, whose bid to extend the match to a fifth game fell just short with a 15-13 wind-up to the fourth.

Chifunda then defeated former Canadian national team member Shawn Delierre (a quarter-final victor over Dartmouth first-team all-American Ryan Donegan) in a 15-5, 11 and 14 match that had an odd wind-up: Delierre, who was way out of sorts when the match began, had gotten progressively better as the match moved along and he earned his way to a 14-11 lead in the third game.

At this stage, he abandoned the steady and conservative approach that had worked so well in that game, going for, and tinning, several difficult shots.

Caught at 14-all, he surprisingly chose "no-set," thereby presenting Chifunda with a match-ball, then even more surprisingly went for another rash winner on a closely cut and delicately angled forehand cross court drop shot, which also found the tin and ended the match.

The final was close all the way, and when Chifunda came away with a tiebreaker victory in the second game after dropping the first, everyone knew the two contestants were in for a long haul. Chifunda's fitness has accounted for many of his wins in this type of marathon match, his 10-9 fifth-game final-round tally on his sixth match-ball (and after saving four match-balls against him) over Mohammad Sadiq after trailing two games to one in New Orleans being an excellent example of the foregoing. Yehia was the more aggressive of the pair, often going for backhand drop shots even while deep in the court and looking to volley whatever he could. He was able to eke out the third game 15-13, but trailed late in the fourth before finally catching Chifunda at 14-all. Here for the second time in as many rounds a match ended when a player opted for a no-set call that gave his opponent a match-ball.

Chifunda, who ironically had benefited from Delierre's such call in the semis, nevertheless chose this option, provoking a surprised verbal reaction from Yehia and preceding a brief rally that ended when a Chifunda forehand drive rang off the tin and ended an exciting weekend.

Tournament Recap

Round of 16:
Karim Yehia bye;
Ahmed Hamza d Matt Serediak, 3-1;
Lucky Odeh d Abdul Razzaq, 3-2;
Josh McDonald d Rizwam Farooq, 3-0;
Patrick Chifunda d Bertrand Tissot, 3-1;
Clive Leach d Colin Mosanda, 3-1;
Ryan Donegan d M. Nasir Farooq, 3-0;
Shawn Delierre d Ahmad El-Amin,, withdrew.

Quarters:
Yehia d Hamza, 3-2; Odeh d McDonald, 1-0, retired; Chifunda d Leach, 3-1; Delierre d Donegan, 3-0.

Semis:
Yehia d Odeh, 3-0; Chifunda d Delierre, 3-0.

Final;
Yehia d Chifunda, 3-1.

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