USA and Columbia in Dual Faceoffs at Tepic Mexico
July 2, 2004, By Rob Dinerman; SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004

Trinity Stars Past And Current To Face Off Tonight

Fresh from routine 3-0 quarter-final wins over El Salvador and Chile respectively, the U. S. men's and women's teams will both play their counterparts from Colombia today in the semi-final round of the 2004 Pan American Federation Cup, hosted by Tepic, Mexico. The other men's semi will pit Mexico against Argentina, easy 3-0 winners over Bermuda and Canada in their respective quarter-final matches.

Balancing the U. S. vs. Colombia in the women's draw will be the host Mexicans, led by Individuals gold medalist Samantha Teran, opposing Canada, who defeated Argentina three matches to none.

Large Crowds take in Pan Am action at Tepic, photo courtesy FPS © 2004

The American women were cheered by the swift return to action of Louisa Hall, who has recovered remarkably quickly from a badly sprained ankle incurred in the last few points of her Individuals quarter-final just four days ago that forced her to default her semi. Hall won her match against her Chilean opponent in less than a half hour, while Individuals silver medalist Meredeth Quick won her match in four at No. 1 and Lily Lorentzen won handily at No. 3. The remaining American, Yale star Michelle Quibell, has been suffering in recent days from an eye infection, which is thought to be either viral in origin or brought on by a significant change in temperature during a day earlier this week.

To relax and get their minds off what figures to be a strong impending challenge from Colombia, the U. S. women rented cars and drove up and over the mountain overlooking Tepic nd spent several hours on a gorgeous beach on the Pacific Ocean, complete with horses running up and down the beach and an enormous turn-out of surfers.

The men's team rested Michael Puertas in their easy win over El Salvador to have him fresh for the stern opposition they are likely to get from Colombia this evening. The highlight match at No. 1 will feature former Trinity College star Preston Quick, class of 2000 and the winner of the S. L. Green each of the past two years, against present Trinity co-captain Bernardo Samper, who as a freshman won the Intercollegiate Individual championship in 2002. Bantam head coach Paul Assaiante, whose charges have won the Potter Cup for the past six years, will no doubt be following the action from afar as he coaches the Hartford Foxforce of World Team Tennis this summer.

Quick and Samper have never played each other before, and both are eagerly looking forward to their match, whose outcome will confer on the winner both an important point in the team competition and "bragging rights" at future Trinity alumni conventions.

The Argentina vs. Mexico semi also features a high-wire act at No. 1, given the volatile Individuals final that occurred just a few days ago between Jorge Gutierrez, the eventual winner, and Erick Galvez, who does not have to wait long for a chance to get his revenge. At 8-8 in the opening game of that final, Galvez asked for and was granted a stroke, but in his excitement (and having already been warned for baiting his opponent with his fist-clenching and punching the air) he totally ruined his hard-won advantage by letting out a huge yell and emphatically punching the air in his opponent's space.

This demonstration caused him to be assessed a conduct stroke, resulting in Gutierrez serving at 9-8 and essentially costing the over-reacting Galvez that game and ultimately the match. Both players will no doubt be keen for this rematch and the shot at the team final it has the potential to represent.

Pan Am Fed Quarter-Final Team Recap [men's team draw] [women's team draw]

Men: USA d El Salvador, 3-0; Colombia d Ecuador, 3-0; Mexico d Bermuda, 3-0; Argentina d Canada, 3-0.

Women: USA d Chile, 3-0; Colombia d Bermuda, 2-1; Mexico d Guatemala, 3-0; Canada d Argentina, 3-0.

Squashtalk.com All materials © 1999-2004. Communicate with us at info@squashtalk.com.
Published by Squashtalk LLC, 409 Massachusetts Ave, Suite 102, Acton, MA 01720 USA, Editor and Publisher Ron Beck,
Graphics editor Debra Tessier Send comments, ideas, contributions and feedback to the webmaster.
Copyright © 1999-2004 SquashTalk, all rights reserved, may not be reproduced in any form except for one-time personal use.