Rochester, NY — In April, the 2010 Rochester ProAm, a PSA Super Satellite Squash Tournament, was held at the University of Rochester. The event featured several University of Rochester players, who competed as amateurs.
Rochester player Will Newnham and Tournament Director Mithun Mukherjee provided great descriptions of this year’s tournament on rocprosquash.com.
Below is an except of Newnham’s match recap from the qualifying round:
For the second session of the night, Jonathon Ramos Uriel Islas of Mexico faced off against the University of Rochester’s #4, the Peruvian, Andres Duany. Duany came out of the blocks at a rapid pace, playing precision squash and seemed to be a man on a mission, as he sailed through the first game, 11-5. As the second game progressed, the rallies were extended and the pace remained consistent. However, the tables turned in favour of Islas as he relentlessly picked up every shot that Duany through at him. To make matters worse for the Peruvian, every shot that Islas retrieved was coming back in a clinical manner. Second game to Islas, 11-6. The following game was a similar story with both players chasing down every single ball as if it were their last, but again Islas came out on top 11-7. As Duany entered the court for the fourth game, he seemed to be more focused. Here he played disciplined squash where he hit all four corners with fading lengths and clinical drop shots. Although the Mexican ran all balls down, Duany prevailed 11-8. Going into the fifth game, the crowd could tell they were in for a treat when the first point lasted a good couple of minutes with both players showing that they both desired obtaining the victory. After a few more grueling points, Fabien Versaille, the referee declared that it was the one of the longest games he had ever refereed. The length of the game became evident as Islas began to cramp in his left quad after a long point. At 8-8 in the fifth, Islas was cramping heavily and the fans sensed a Duany victory. However, the Mexican somehow managed to carry his leg around the court for a few more points and somehow picked up a tight Duany drop shot to seal the deal 11-9 in the fifth. Good game boys.
