Melbourne, Australia — The 2010 World University Squash Games commenced on July 10th in Melbourne, Australia. The United States is being represented by three men, Todd Harrity (Princeton), Chris Hanson (Dartmouth), and Alex Domenick (Cornell), and two women, Kristen Lange (Penn) and Logan Greer (Yale).
In the women’s individual competition (draw), Kristen Lange defeated Australia’s Selena Shaikh in three games (11-3 11-4 11-1) to advance to the quarterfinals. Lange’s teammate Logan Greer also advanced to the quarterfinals. Greer beat Stephanie Smith of New Zealand in three games (11-8, 11-5, 11-4).
Lange and Greer are in opposite brackets and can only meet each other in the finals.
Harvard’s Laura Gemmell, the reigning Ramsay Cup champion, is representing Canada. Gemmell went undefeated during the 2009 – 2010 College Squash Association regular and post season. She had a tough opening round match with Kirsty McPhee of Great Britain. According to SquashSite, Gemmell had a three-minute injury break in game 3. McPhee won the match in three tight games (11-8, 11-6, 11-8). Gemmell will face Australia’s Birgit Coufal in the consolations (draw).
Next up for the United States women, Lange will face Hong Kong’s Annie Au, the top-seed, who had a bye in the first round. Greer plays Great Britain’s Emma Chorly.
The men’s competition features more players (draw). In three games, Cornell’s Alex Domenick defeated New Zeland’s Michael Pittams (13-11 11-7, 11-5) to advance to the second round. South Africa’s Richard Colburn defeated Domenick (11-8 11-9 11-5) in the second round.
Dartmouth’s Chris Hanson rebounded from a first-game defeat to South Africa’s Christo Potgeiter (4-11 11-6 11-4, 11-7). In the second round, Hanson again had a challenging first game, losing to Britain’s Christopher Hall 15-13. He eventually lost in three games (15-13 11-2, 11-8).
Todd Harrity was the sole representative of the United States that had a bye in the first round. In the second round, he faced Australia’s Sam Brown. Harrity won in three games (11-3 11-5 11-9). In the quarterfinals, Harrity will face Britain’s Peter Creed.
Recent Harvard graduate Colin West, the winner of the 2010 Pool Trophy, is playing for Canada. Like Harrity, he had a bye in the opening round. In the second round, he defeated Hong Kong’s Ho Fai Chiu (11-9 11-3 11-2). West will face another Hong Kong player, Leo Au, in the quarterfinals.
