Wrapup – 7th Annual George Armstrong

November 7th, 2007 Mithun Mukherjee Posted in General, Tournaments

by Jack Fitzpatrick (Photos by Paul Schwartz)

Kate awards Mike his trophies		Champion Mike Bittner and finalist Pete			Captain Jack !	5.0 Finals
		Cam, Jack, bob, Mark	Doubles A	5.0 Finals	Hugh Higgins, 4.0 Consolation	Doubles B Final

GVC again hosted the 7th Annual George Armstrong Squash Classic on October 24-27, Rochester’s most popular squash tournament. This year it had two innovations that were enthusiastically welcomed by all the players and spectators. The first was scheduling the tournament’s last match to be the A doubles exhibition, in which Mike Bittner and Eric Hernady defeated Mark Mijangos and Thomson Chew 3-0. It was done so all the other players would have the chance to relax, eat, drink and watch an exciting doubles match in the large spectator area.

The crowd got into it because of the many spectacular shots by Mike and Thomson and, when things frequently got confusing, seeing all of them ducking and diving to the floor for their lives. It was a great finish, with Mike winning his 4th GA doubles title.

Mike also burnished his reputation as the many-year best squash player in Rochester. Since he had played little over the last year, he was seeded an unfamiliar 2nd in he 5.0 draw. Thus, he was motivated to prove a point, which he did in spectacular fashion. He won every match 3-0, first against Mithun Mukherjee, then Thomson, and then a great final match against recent Uof R graduate and squash professional, Peter Avitable. Pete was quick, skillful and fit, but Mike was also and had an edge in shot making, the ultimate deciding factor toward his 3-0 victory.

In the 4.0 draw, Mark Raeside won over defending champ Cam Conley 3-0. Mark was relentless in retrieving all of Cam’s favorite shots and in pounding the ball deep. His patented hyper-fake roll corner to the front wall earned him many key points when Cam was expecting the deep drive.

The second innovation was to have an “Open” doubles draw designed to let mostly novice players compete against each other in a relatively fair fashion. Since GVC has the only local doubles court, the players welcomed the chance to play this great game against their peers (and not have to endure getting pummeled by the experienced players). The event drew 7 teams and the 4.0 finalists, Mark and Cam, teamed up to win over Jack Fitzpatrick and Bob Tarbox, 3-2.

In the 5.0 Consolations, Mithun Mukherjee outlasted Mark Mijangos 3-2, while Hugh Higgins, in the tournament’s closest match, won the 4.0 Consolation 9-8 in the 5th game.

The participating players appreciated the court conditions, hospitality and great food at the GVC and are looking forward to the next event.