The 6th Annual George Armstrong Classic Recap

December 16th, 2006 Chris Thomas Posted in Tournaments

By Jack Fitzpatrick:
On Friday November 10th, 2006, GVC again hosted the 6th Annual George Armstrong Tournament. A solid field of 42 players, including 16 members, initiated the open Tournament season in Rochester again, and brought great competitive squash, camaraderie, and a venue for everyone to test their skills against new opponents.

A familiar pattern again occurred in the 5.0s in which the energetic young college players inexorably wear down the local veterans who come to test their skills against them. Then the coaches, who have done the same, step in and give the pupils yet another lesson.

In the 5.0s, University of Rochester Coach Matt Danker gave a lesson to #2 player Yohay Wakabayashi 3-0, while the other two semifinalists were teammates Jamal Callendar and Alex Lee. In the end, Matt’s endurance was as good as the students, but he much more effectively mixed up his shots to keep them off balance. In other years, coaches David Kaye and Vijay Chitnis were winners also.

After the first round, there were 6 UR players and 2 only two veterans, Thomson Chew and Mithun Mukherjee. Both had won their openers against UR players, but then lost in the semifinals. Thomson was close at 2-3 against Yohay, and Mithun was 0-3 vs. Jamal.

The consolation round was very interesting. A very solid John Walsh, who had just arrived from the UK 24 hours ago, lost a 5 setter to Alex Lee, and then won a 5 setter over Nighthawks and Rattler’s team doctor, Ilya Voloshin, a newcomer to Rochester. He then won yet another 5 setter against UR’s Jamie Lynn to meet junior player Alex Greaves-Tunnell in the finals. The rapidly improving Alex then won his first ever 5.0 trophy over the skilled, but fatigued John.

As usual, the 4.0s had the largest field and the widest variety of matches. Two local veterans met in the finals, with Cam Conley winning 3-0 against last year’s runner-up Jack Fitzpatrick. It actually was a tight match and the momentum shifted often; but in the end, Cam’s great retrieving tenacity and the ability to bang out bigger power shots at critical times made the difference.
Other matches saw the first step-up into the 4.0s level by juniors Paul Rubery, Robert Hurlbut, Nick Greaves-Tunnel and Rudy Small, and by last year’s 3.0 winner, Scott Fitzpatrick. Nick was the only one to win in the first round, defeating eventual Consolation winner Steve Gelb of the UR team!! Scott was the only one to win in the Consolation round, beating veteran Mark Walley, but then losing overtime in the 5th to Steve. Steve won the Consolations over last year’s runner-up veteran Chris Thomas.

In the 3.0, Canada’s Paula Kuzic won over junior Matt Lampeter, who in turn had won over fellow junior Forrest Hurlbut.

In doubles, Mike Bittner and Mark Mijangos successfully defended their 2005 title over fellow members, Ham Clark and Joe Wilson, 3-0.

Paul Schwartz captured some of the doubles action which you can view at
Armstrong Doubles Action

The weekend at the GVC was once again, a great place to be for squash players and fans alike. The Armstrong has established a tradition of sportsmanship (the players are encouraged to ref their own matches) and collegiality. There is a wide variety of age, skill levels and styles. The opportunity to resume friendly rivalries, and to track the continual improvement in our local juniors and the UR players, all in a very relaxed venue, gives it a family-like setting. Thank you to coaches Martin Heath and Matt Danker for encouraging their team’s participation, and to all players who participated.

Thanks also to the GVC for hosting the tournament and to Bank of America’s Private Bank in Rochester who supported. Kate Whitmore did her usual great job in running the tournament and keeping it on schedule.

See you in 2007!