Latasha wins Sixth Title
Mar 20, 2005, by Ron Beck       [Mens S L Green Draw]   [Womens Championship Draw]
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JULIAN ILLINGWORTH WINS NATIONAL SINGLES TITLE

Julian Illingworth (red) defeated Michael Puertas in the US National Finals

Sunday noon was the climax of an extremely well attended (over 540 entrants) but particularly low-key edition of the US National Championships, and the finals seemed somehow characteristic of the entire event, as they kicked off without so much as an introduction of the finalists. They simply began. When they were complete, there was a repeat champion, six-time winnner Latasha Khan, and a new champion, new National Champion Julian Illingworth, who now adds the National Men's championship to his Intercollegiate finalist title for the year.

And for third place finisher Lily Lorentzen, it was a breakthrough performance, as she knocked on the door against Latasha in the semis and today decisively out-pointed Shabana in the third place playoff.

LATASHA STRONGER, JUST
The battle between Meredeth Quick and Latasha Khan was a battle between familiar protagonists. Meredeth had been looking strong all week, possibly a little faster and fitter than last year; while Latasha had been looking a little as if she was playing not to lose rather than to win.

Kevin Klipstein and Ken Stillman award the National Championship to Latasha Khan with finalist Meredeth Quick. Photo © 2005 Ron Beck

In fact, this contest was close all the way. Latasha said afterwards that she was not feeling 100% comfortable out there today, still feeling the after-effects of a very physical encounter with Lily Lorentzen yesterday (she showed me the bruises). But Latasha is an elegant battler, and battle she did, matching Quick's power with power of her own.

The match was a fine lesson in probing for weaknesses, each protagonist working the perceived weak points of their well-known foe. Latasha for a long time attacked Quick's backhand relentlessly, but the valiant Quick was not to be defeated on any technical weakness there, as she finished off a few backhand battles with winning volley drops, resulting in a cessation of that attack.

Both players at times were having trouble establishing length, Latasha actually in more difficulty in that regards. Whenever Quick tried to capitalize on a Latasha loose shot, Latasha's anticipation stood her in good stead, as she was there to retreive all but the very best of Quick's low hard drives, and the more Latasha retreived them, the more a frustrated Quick tried to cut things too close.

Still, it was game three that made the difference, as Quick took at 5-2 lead in that crucial game and then inexplicably embarked on a series of poorly conceived low-percentage front court shots, that ended with Latasha back even at 5-5.

Once Latasha had pulled even, the flair evaporated from Quick's game and a bit of the bounce from her step. Latasha's killer instinct kicked in and she delivered consistently low and dangerous shots and drives from that point on. Though the third game could have gone either way, it went to Latasha and it could have been Meredeth's.

For Latasha, it was an impressive six National Championships. Though she is unlikely to be able to approach Demer Holleran's untouchable 12 titles, it elevates the stylish west-coaster to rarified heights.

JULIAN BREAKS THROUGH

Illingworth and Puertas in the finals. Photo © 2005 Ron Beck

With his long-time coach Khalid Mir in the first row, Julian Illingworth took the attack from the initial moments of this title match with Michael Puertas. (Puertas said, after an immediate winner from Julian on the first point, "It's not allowed to hit that on the first point")

Illingworth was all over Puertas in game one, covering every inch of the court and flawlessly moving his opponent around.

But Michael Puertas wanted this title pretty badly, and worked pretty hard to earn it, regaining the initiative in game two marked by some moments of frustration by Illingworth and some very sharp frontcourt shooting by Puertas.

Julian Illingworth wins the 2005 US National Championship. Photo © 2005 Ron Beck

In the third, Illingworth, who had been lulled into a losing retrieval game in game two, went on a breathless and devastating attack, that just left the much older Puertas short. Illingworth continued the barrange in game four, hitting more and more shots with more confidence as the contest proceeded, and he had a first national championship in slightly under one hour.

US National Championships, Harvard University, Allston MA

Finals, Sunday March 20 2005
Womens National Championship: [draw]
Latasha Khan (Seattle) def Meredeth Quick (NY) 9-6 9-7 10-9
Mens S L Green National Championship: [draw]
Julian Illingworth (Portland OR) def Michael Puertas (St Louis) 11-9 8-11 11-7 11-6
Mens Under 25: Siddharth Suchde def Imran Khan 9-2 9-2 9-7 [draw]
Mens 25+: Mark Heather def Ahmed Hamza 9-1 9-5 9-2 [draw]
Mens 30+: Nathan Dugan def Mike Corren 9-6 10-8 9-3 [draw]
Mens 35+: Richard Elliott def Andre Maur 9-5 9-1 3-9 9-5 [draw]
Mens 40+: Kenton Jernigan def Benoit DeSombre 9-3 9-7 9-2 [draw]
Mens 45+: Richard Shepperd def Mike Riley 9-7 9-0 9-0 [draw]
Mens 50+: Thomas Bedore def Robert Graves 9-6 9-3 9-3 [draw]
Mens 55+: Gordon Anderson def Don Sheer 9-5 9-2 9-1 [draw]
Mens 60+: Edward Monaghan def Dan Hogan 9-1 9-1 9-2 [draw]
Mens 65+: Michael Gough def Robert MacDonald 9-1 9-1 9-3 [draw]
Mens 70+: Ken Cucuel def Edward Burlingame 9-6 4-9 9-1 3-9 9-1 [draw]
Mens 75+: Lee Engler def Charlie Butt 10-9 9-6 8-10 9-7 [draw]
Mens 80+: Myron Solin def Richard Daly 6-9 9-4 9-5 9-3 [draw]
Womens U35: Shona Kerr def Mary Belknap McKee 3-0 [draw]
Womens 35+: Sharon Bradey def Wendy Ansdell 3-0 [draw]
Womens 40+: Amy Milanek def Dawn Gray 3-0 [draw]
Womens 45+: Bettina Aten def Laurie Keenen, default [draw]
Womens 50+: Nancy Iskandar won round robin [draw]
Womens 55+: Joyce Davenport won round robin [draw]

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