Galvez and Gutierrez Advance
June 29, 2004, By Rob Dinerman; SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004

Galvez vs Gutierrez In Men's Final,. Quick vs Teran In Women's

HALL SIDELINED BY ANKLE SPRAIN
In a series of dominant semi-final performances, Erick Galvez of Mexico, Jorge Gutierrez of Argentina and top women's seed Samantha Teran of Mexico all won in three decisive games, while the highly anticipated remaining women's semi-final between Americans Meredeth Quick and Louisa Hall, neither of whom had dropped a game in their earlier matches, never materialized due to the severe ankle sprain the latter incurred late in her quarter-final victory over Lauren Polonish of Canada. Hall's ankle swelled badly overnight, resulting in a lump nearly the size of a baseball, and it seems unlikely that she will recover fully and quickly enough to play in the team event, which begins in just two days and in which the U. S. women will be attempting to defend the Pan American Games gold medal they won in Santo Domingo last summer.

Teran won her semi-final 9-1, 3 and 2 over the American teenager Lily Lorentzen, who had an excellent tournament but was overwhelmed by her opponent's decisive edge in strength and experience. Lorentzen will likely have to play an important role at the No. 3 position in the team event, where she figures to replace Hall in the line-up and play behind Quick and Michelle Quibell, the 2004 Intercollegiate Individual champion who took Teran to five games in the round of 16.

In the men's event, Galvez posted a trio of 9-5 games against Robertino Pezzota of Argentina and Gutierrez ended Jose Becemil's Cinderella run to the semis by a tally of 9-7, 3 and 2. Becemil had eliminated virtually the entire American squad, having saved several match-balls in the middle games of his rally from 0-2 down against top seed Preston Quick, which the unseeded Becemil followed with more straightforward wins against Julian Illingworth in the round of 16 and Chris Gordon in the quarters. He came close in his bid for the first game with Gutierrez, but when that game narrowly got away the trend of the match had been permanently set.

Galvez and Gutierrez have both enjoyed success in recent Pan American competitions and they should have a competitive final. The women's final between the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds will hinge on how well Teran handles the expectation and pressure of playing before what figures to be a boisterous crowd of her countrymen and whether Quick, who hasn't had a real challenge to this point of the tournament, can lift her game enough to successfully match up with Teran's imposing arsenal.

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