2013 Nob Hill Handicapped Tournament

In sports, one rises to the best of his or her ability depending on one’s skill level and time commitment to their given sport. And just as true in most athletic endeavors, there is a pecking order that is quickly established based on that level of skill.  

It is no different in the game of Squash Racquets.  Squash neatly segregates players into classes depending on ability .  It is clear who the best players are.  It is also clear who the mediocre players are.  Scores do not lie.  Without exception an “A Player” will beat a “B Player.  A “B Player” will beat a “C Player”.  And so on down the line.

There comes a time in a squash player’s career when one is forced to look in the mirror, and take an honest assessment of oneself and then settle into playing with players of one’s own ability.  And so it goes..... once a “ B Player” always a “B Player”  may be the reality, but it is never truly acknowledged or palpable to a truly competitive player.  The “B Player” is still a “B” only because he doesn’t have the time to work on his game.  If only one had the requisite time one would surely be an “A Player” except for the fact that most of the time,  “A Players” only play with other “A Players”.  So there are few ways to prove to everyone, and most importantly to oneself, that lurking inside that “B Player” there is an “ A Player”  for everyone to see.

 

But there is one event that mixes players from all abilities that breaks the chains of  Squash’s caste system.  It is the handicapped tournament -  an event that pits players of all abilities against one another.  It is an opportunity  for the “B Player” to play out his fantasy of competing against an “A Player” with the outcome in the balance.  

The Nob Hill Doubles Handicap Championship is such an event.  In this year’s edition, there were seventeen teams competing.  

The team of University Club members Brooks Walker and Missy Smit came in with a handicap of (-4) which meant that they started each game so that they had to score 19 points to win a game to 15.  Defending Champions Nick Eaton and Bill Tarr were “rewarded” for last year’s excellent play  with a handicap of (-6) down from the previous year’s (-2).  

Dwight Alexander and Sam McCullagh were assigned a staggering handicap of (+11) and in the opinion of this writer played the match of the tournament: a quarter-final match against the team of Busani Xaba and Monroe Townsend who competed with a handicap of (-5).  In other words Xaba and Townsend had to score 20 points rather than the normal 15 points  to win a game and Alexander and McCullagh would win a game by merely needing to win 4 points.  After nearly 2 hours, Alexander and McCullagh prevailed in a physically and mentally exhausting 5 games. (The 4th game was won at 14 all when McCullagh’s clean frame shot proved to be unreturnable) 

Many other notable matches were played.  Matt Caldwell and Sarah West (-7) overcame Eric Toan and Andy Fremder (-2) by the score of 3-2 (15-14 in the 5th), but then they lost in the next match to Luke Ogelsby and Sam Peelle (-8) in yet another five gamer (15-14 in the fifth).  

The 3rd Place match pitting Dwight Alexander and Sam McCullagh versus Luke Ogelsby and Sam Peelle set the tone for the evening with an exciting match that went down to the last point in the 5th game with Ogelsby and Peelle surviving.

Ali Pearson and her partner Peter Karlen (one of last year’s Finalists) came in with a handicap of (-12) and got through 2 demanding matches and met the team of Lauren Patrizio and Ron Beller (-4) in the Finals.  Lauren was steady and Ron hit some timely winners.  Ali was solid, and Peter kept a level head since it was clear that Lauren and Ron’s strategy was to hit 90% of their shots to Ali on the left wall.  In the first game, Pearson and Karlen made up their deficit impressively by reeling off 10 of the first 11 points and won by the score of 15-7.  But Patrizio and Beller got over the initial shock of being dominated in losing the first game, steadied themselves, and won the next three games.  The entire match lasted close to an hour and a half and the 8 point spread proved to be too much for Pearson and Karlen to overcome and they went down in the 4th.  

Lauren and Ron.....Champs!  And their reward? If they play again as a team next year my guess is that their handicap will be (-6)