Paul Assaiante, head coach for the US team at the World University Games, reports on the first day of team play.
Melbourne, Australia — Today was an epic day for US squash.
In the team championships, our side beat Austria 3-0. Logan Greer started us off with a strong 3-1 victory. Todd Harrity then came up against a very dangerous young player and won in 3 tight and risky games. Chris Hanson won the rubber match 3-0 comfortably.
Tonight we went up against host Australia, coached by five-time world
champion Sara Fitzgerald. Kristen Lange lost 3-0 and all of a sudden the pressure was on. Todd Harrity was in much better form, winning 3-0.
Chris Hanson then came out to play the number two from Australia, Luke Sims. Sims hit the ball very hard and had Chris on his heels throughout. At 9-9 in the first game Chris cut his knee and took the injury time out to get it covered, quickly winning the game 11-9. In game two, Sims came out blasting, winning 11-6, but in game three, Chris showed great grit, winning 11-7. Although Sims seemed to be fading, he somehow found a second wind and stole the fourth game 11-6.
All of a sudden the pressure was squarely on Chris’s shoulders for us to have a chance for a medal, and he found himself down 7-4. Chris then dug deep, and after several gut-busting points he came out on top, winning the fifth game 11-7.
We play Hong Kong tomorrow (the number two seed), and then the cross-over match tomorrow afternoon.
Stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
