| SQUASH -- US WOMEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS HOWE CUP RESULTS |
| From: Peter Heffernan, Director of Squash, Meadow Mill Athletic Club |
| Special mention should be made of new Meadow Mill members, Cathy Booth, Pam Borden and Chris Ensey who rounded out our spirited contingent. I think as a group we all did an excellent job of carrying the name of Meadow Mill Athletic Club and the city of Baltimore to Yale University, the city of New Haven and the USSRA and all squash players across the country. We travelled as a group and supported one another on (and off) the court, playing to the best of our abilities, and with great sportsmanship. Hopefully our success will attract many players to our tournaments and clubs here in Baltimore. |
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| From Wade Johnstone: |
| The US National Skill Level and Age Group Championships were held at Yale University on March 15-19th, 2006. I and several others from Meadow Mill Athletic Club attended the Championships seeking glory. |
| The weather up in Yale was cold and the air was extremely dry. A lot of people were getting electric shocks while trying to open the court doors. I was lucky enough to be fully charged up and shocking pretty much anything I touched, doors, people, walls etc. The econolodge where we stayed was very nice and relaxing, although I slept poorly the whole time I was there. |
| I played in the U/25 division, which turned out to be a round robin event with 6 players in it. This required me to play 5 matches over four days, which I haven't done for quite some time. My first match was against a Spaniard, Iago Cornes and I flew out of the blocks and raced to a 5-0 lead in two minutes. Unfortunately I then hit the wall very quickly and became tired, from this point on it was a very difficult and tiring match to start off the tournament. I lost the first game 6-9 and after an hour and a bit on court won the 2nd, 3rd and 4th games 9-7. It was very close and a tough first round match to ease me into the tournament. |
| My second match was against Asad Khan and I won very easily in 3 and then had to play another match in the afternoon against a young lad, Shane Slater. I had another easy win in 3 and used this day as a bit of a rest day as I was extremely sore from my match the previous day. |
| My fourth match was against a player from Wales, Scott Fitzgerald, whom I played on the all glass court. He was a very good player and nearly had me beat. He was up 2 games to 1 and I was having trouble picking up the black ball on the dark walls of the court. He was holding and flicking the ball around very well. I stepped up on the T a bit more and volleyed everything that I could. Luckily for me I scraped through in a tough 5 games. |
| My last match, which ended up being the final of the tournament was played against Imran Khan. He was a very fit and steady player. My match preparation didn't go spectacular as I had a headache before the match, got a bloody nose just before I went on court and during the first game after a couple of points my right shin locked up and I couldn't bend my foot. My movement was impaired and it hurt to stand on it. Luckily for me I somehow won that game and had the lovely Jenny Armstrong, one of Meadow Mills masseurs on hand to help me with my leg. Jenny stretched out the muscle in my shin and I was able to get back on court and continue the match. Unluckily for me as soon as I could move again (thanks to Jenny), I stopped using my brain as much and after an hour and a half marathon, lost in 4 games to Imran. |
| There was a few dubious calls over all which I wasn't happy about, but in the end the result speaks for itself. A good tough match, which will prepare me for my important tournament in Dublin and well, overall ending up Runner Up in the U/25's was a good result. |
| Wade Johnstone |