Boston & NY Shine in Howe Cup
Oct 23, 2004, by Rob Dinerman, SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004;

Another Boston vs NY showdown?
Howe Cup Mid-Tournament Update

A sports week that is already memorable for New York vs Boston summits in baseball and football well may add another front on this inter-city rivalry Sunday afternoon in the finals of the longest continuously running and popular women's national team event of the entire season, the Howe Cup, whose 45th edition is being hosted this weekend in Manhattan. In one semi-final of the six-team A flight, the two Boston entries (one of which, Boston 1, features recent Harvard all-Americans Margaret Elias and Carlin Wing) will face each other, while in the other Philadelphia will square off against New York 1.

Both meets will be played at the Harvard Club, one of four midtown clubs (the Yale, Princeton and University Clubs are the others) that have generously donated their facilities for this 26-team, four-flight (now including Doubles for the first time) event featuring teams from all across the country and players of all levels. The best of these is Natalie Grainger, fresh off adding the U. S. Open to her impressive career resume in Brooklyn at Heights Casino last weekend and hence riding a degree of momentum as she swept back to New York that engulfed all her opponents these past two days, including New York 1's top player Meredeth Quick, who will resume her rivalry with Louisa Hall tomorrow in the non-Boston semi.

These two have played each other so frequently in recent years that they now almost have a rivalry in each club in which they meet. The last time they clashed at the Harvard Club (which will also host the A final at 2:15 p.m.) was just nine months back, in the final of the Harvard Club Of New York Invitational, a U. S. team selection event. Hall won that final in five after Quick had rallied from two games to love down, but Quick has won their several matches since then, including most recently their first-round U. S. Open qualifier a mere 11 days ago, in which an 11-point Quick spurt from 6-6 in the first to 9-6, 7-0 in the second gave her an advantage that Hall could not quell in her eventual 3-0 defeat. Neither will have to deal anymore this weekend with Grainger, whose mostly Maryland-based Mid-Atlantic teammates were not able to muster enough additional wins to support the exploits of their superstar leader.

The B flight contained so many teams---13 in all---that no fewer than four round-robin pools, played out over all four hosting facilities, were needed to account for all the pre-semis action. In the end, Connecticut will oppose Boston 1 in one semi, while New York 1 takes on Philadelphia in the other. This was the only flight in which a team had to win its respective pool outright to make the semis, as there simply weren't enough time or courts for any "crossover" matches.

The seven-team C flight saw Boston 1 defeat Boston 2 in one semi be a close 3-2 margin and hence qualify for the final against Philadelphia 1, which survived a similar intra-town match against Philadelphia 2. This is the only flight to have already determined its two finalists, though there are still fifth/sixth and third/fourth play-offs on tomorrow's schedule as well.

Howe Cup 2004, Princeton, Yale, University and Harvard Clubs, NYC
RESULTS, SAT Oct 23, Polls

A flight:
[complete A Flight resuts]
Pool A:
Boston-I def NY-II, 5-0
Boston-I def Philadelphia, 4-1
Philadelphia def New York-II, 5-0

Pool B:
New York-I def Boston-II, 3-2
New York-I def Mid-Atlantic, 4-1
Boston-II def Mid-Atlantic, 3-2.

B Flight:
[complete B Flight resuts]
Pool A:
Connecticut def Boston-III, 5-0
Connecticut def NY-II, 5-0
Connecticut def Washington-I, 4-1
Washington-I def Boston-III, 5-0
Washington-I def NY-II, 3-2
Boston-III def NY-II, 3-2.

Pool B:
Boston-I def NY-III, 5-0
Boston-I def Seattle, 5-0
Seattle def NY-III, 5-0.

Pool C:
NY-I def Houston, 5-0
NY-I def Boston-II, 4-1
Boston-II def Houston, 5-0.

Pool D:
Philadelphia def Washington-II, 5-0,
Philadelphia def Baltimore, 3-2
Baltimore def Washington-II, 5-0.

C Flight:
[complete C flight resuts]
Pool A:
Boston-I def NY-II, 5-0
Boston-I def Baltimore, 5-0
Boston-I def Philadelphia-II, 3-2
Philadelphia-II def NY-II, 4-1
Philadelphia-II def Baltimore, 5-0
Baltimore def NY-II, 4-1.

Pool B:
Philadelphia-I def Boston-II, 5-0,
Philadelphia-I def NY-1, 4-1
Boston-II def NY-I, 3-2.

Doubles Results Will Be Posted Tomorrow
[complete Doubles resuts]

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