1992 35+ National Champion

 

John Lau's athleticism and ability to consistently place the ball deep in all corners of the court brought him the Men's 35+ trophy for the second year in a row,  The Berkeley, Calif. resident turned an 11-8 deficit to Mexico's Luis deVillafranca in the first game of the final into a 15-12 victory as Lau's superb shot making skills were brought into play whenever he needed batches of points.  That ability served him well in the second game also as Lau allowed deVillafranca to score only one more point from a 10-all tie.  Lau overwhelmed his opponent in the 15-4 final game, completing his tournament march to victory without a loss of a game.

The losing semifinalists were also visitors from Mexico. Hector Celis fell to Lau and Ruben Giron (who didn't drop a game until the final), 15-8, 15-10, 15-12.

Only two of the matches in the 27 player draw - both in the round of 16 - went the distance as Denver's Fred Duboc eliminated New York City's Kip Gould 15-13 in the fifth and Rochester, N.Y's Pete Bostwick topped Scott Simonton of Wilmington, Del.,15-6 in the fifth game.

FIRST ROUND

John Lau-bye; Ames Byrd d. James Kilpatrick 15-3, 15-0, (8-15),  15-8; Kip Gould d. David Malo 15-10, 15-8, 15-9; Fred Duboc d. Kirk Heilbrun 15-10, 15-6, 15-6; Hector Celis-bye; Thomas Boldt d. Michael Zeddis 17-15, 15-9, 15-6; Pete Bostwick d. John Kemp 15-7, 15-9, 15-12; Scott Simonton d. Ed Lanphier 15-13, 15-11, 15-6; Andre Naniche d. Steve Dayney 3-0; Ruben Giron d. Hunt Walker 15-6, 15-5, 15-6; Kris Surano d. Brian McKenna 15-8, 15-11, 15-13; Robert Graves-bye; James Parsons d. John Hutchis 15-8, 16-15, (11-15), 15-11; Bob Callahan d. Robert Fleishmann 15-2, 15-9, 15-2; David Posner-bye; Luis deVillafranca-bye

SECOND ROUND

Lau d. Byrd 15-11, 15-4, 15-5; Duboc d. Gould (16-18), 15-10, (9-15), 15-7; Celis d, Boldt (11-15), 15-8, 15-13, 15-12; Bostwick d. Simonton (11-15), 15-8, 15-12, (16-18), 15-6; Giron d. Naniche 15-6, 15-10, 11-15, 15-10; Graves d. Surano 15-9, 15-11, 18-16; Callahan d. Parsons 15-11, 15-8, 15-6; deVillafranca d. Posner 15-2, 15-5, 15-8

QUARTERFINALS

Lau d. Duboc 15-10, 15-12, 15-2; Celis d. Bostwick (9-15), 15-6, 15-8, 15-11; Giron d. Graves 15-9, (15-17), 15-1, 15-13; deVillafranca d. Callahan 15-13, 15-13, 15-7

SEMIFINALS

Lau d. Celis 15-10, 15-5, 15-6; deVillafranca d. Giron 15-8, 15-10, 15-12

FINAL

Lau d. deVillafranca 15-12, 15-11, 15-4

Video link of match:

1992 US Squash National 35+ Hardball Singles Championships, Denver

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