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Wyant tops Chin in First of Two
By Rob Dinerman © 2002 SquashTalk

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August 1 , 2002 © 2002      

Tim Wyant makes fast Comeback

Two match take-all series ends today in Rehoboth Beach

August 1---Showing no lingering effects from the early-May groin injury that had forced him to miss last month's U. S. Team Trials in Greenwich last month, Tim Wyant defeated Richard Chin yesterday afternoon in the first match of their play-off series for the final slot on the four-man squad that will represent America later this month in the Pan American Fed event in Quito, Ecuador.

Wyant defeated Chin at the 2002 US Nationals in New Haven, photo © 2002 Debra Tessier

Wyant fell behind in each of the first two games, but swept past his veteran opponent (and eight-time Pan Am Fed team member) in the middle portion of each game before weathering a third-game tiebreaker en route to his 9-6 9-5 10-9 victory.

Chin placed fourth in the six-man round-robin competition in Connecticut six weeks ago, behind National champion Damian Walker, Nationals finalist and just-crowned U. S. Pro champion Preston Quick and '99 National champion Dave McNeely, in that order.

In an extraordinary gesture of sportsmanship, and with the consent of the USA Team Committee, Chin then offered Wyant an opportunity to play him for this final team position out of a wish to have the strongest possible U. S. team and out of respect for the three consecutive tournament defeats he had sustained at the much improved and much younger Wyant's hands during the 2001-2002 season.

They had played in the semis of the early-January Trinity Open, the 3rd-4th place play-off in the mid-February Westchester Classic and the quarters of the S. L. Green national championships in early March, with Wyant dropping only the second game in Westchester.

When it voted to agree with Chin's proposal and allow this post-trials challenge to go forward in late June, the Committee specified that, due to the unusual nature of the competitive backdrop, Chin deserved a "leg up" in this best-of-three challenge match, meaning that Wyant, assuming he recovered by the July 31st deadline date, would be required to defeat Chin in two consecutive days in order to displace him from the last roster position; Chin would only have to win one of the two potential consecutive-day matches to retain the team slot he had voluntarily put at risk.

The series is being refereed by McNeely, Wyant's conqueror in the 3rd-4th Nationals play-off, and is taking place at Rehoboth Beach in suburban Delaware, where Chin had already committed to give a week-long series of lessons.

Chin rushed out to a 5-0 first-game advantage, but Wyant shook off his tentative start and raced to a 9-6 win in a game that lasted 30 minutes due to the length of the all-court exchanges and frequency of hands-out. In this game, as in the second, when Wyant rallied from 3-5 to 9-5 to take a two games to none lead, Wyant duplicated the same ability to pick up the pace in mid-game that had served him so well in his trio of wins over Wyant last winter. Remarkably in view of the severity of his leg injury, which he had exacerbated in late May while attempting a premature return to action, Wyant appeared to be moving as well, if not better, than ever, which can sometimes happen when an enforced break from the grind of the game makes the athlete fresher and more enthused upon his return.

The third game was the least streaky of the three, with the players dividing the points evenly all the way to 8-7, Wyant, whereupon Chin repelled that match-ball against him and rallied to 9-8, game-ball for himself. But Wyant forged out the final three points to clinch his victory and create a winner-take-all summit, appropriately set for High Noon today.

The team will fly to Ecuador on August 16th, a full week before the competition begins, per the order of team coach Paul Assaiante, who feels that his players will need that much time to acclimatize themselves to Quito's 9,000 feet of altitude and prepare for the formidable competition that awaits them.

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