“Bermuda A” Win Squash Challenge

The Bermuda, New York, New England Challenge Squash Tournament went down to the wire at the BSRA squash courts in Devonshire on the final day of competition, with Bermuda “A” Team just edging out New York by a single point to win the overall competition, while Bermuda “B” placed third and New England took 4th place.

Pictured below is Micah Franklin, Captain of Bermuda “A” Team who was undefeated during the tournament, and Tommy Sherratt, Captain of Bermuda “B” Team who’s only loss was to Franklin:

Although this was intended as a social tournament rather than being highly competitive, tension continued to mount on the final day with Bermuda “A” playing against a spirited New York team. Bermuda “A” started the day with a 3 point advantage from their previous matches (each player who wins a match scores a point for his or her team). With the lowest seeded players going on court first, a very strong New York ladies group, of Camilla Lancaster, Tracy Gates and Kathy Mintz reeled of 3 successive wins for New York followed by an epic 5 game match between Sergei Parmanov (NY) and Shane McDonnell (Bda A). McDonell struggled valiantly but eventually went down 3-2 to Malinowitz, giving the New York team a one point lead for the first time in the tournament. Their lead increased when Sergei Parmenov defeated Christian Ince 3-1.

Greg Fitzgerald, Daniel Sullivan and Peter Barrett then rattled of 3 wins for Bermuda “A”, but Tony Prentice (Bda A) lost to Harrison Sebring (NY), which meant that the two teams were then tied overall with just one match left to play.

It was more than appropriate that the deciding match would be between Micah Franklin for Bermuda “A” and David Uprichard for New York. Uprichard had recently completed the New York marathon and is super fit, but he had lost to Tommy Sherratt (Bda B) on the first day and Franklin beat Sherratt on the 2nd day. Despite Uprichard doing his utmost to chase down every ball, he had no answer to Franklin’s shot making skills. Franklin has reached a point in his career where he seems to effortlessly stroll around the court even when he’s under pressure as he was at times in this match. But in the end he was just too strong for Uprichard and won in 3 straight games for a valuable deciding point to seal the tournament for his team.

Below is Micah Franklin who had an excellent tournament, winning all of his matches, and winning the crucial match for the Bermuda “A” Team:

In the second section Bermuda “B” were up against New England, and after the 2nd day Bermuda “B” held a one point advantage over New Egland. This match-up turned into an exciting duel to decide 3rd and 4th places overall.

Michele Hodder, Murray Brewer, Mary Brewer and Anthony Fellowes all won their matches for Bermuda “B” but Lauri Sklar, Navid Mehta, Joe Lardner, Chris Ceasar and Thomas Hedemann all rattled off victories for New England to set the scene for a deciding match between Tommy Sherratt for Bermuda “B” and Thomas Kiedel for New England. Both players had great shots and moved well around the court, but Sherratt was able dominate the centre of the court and occasionally send his opponent in the wrong direction with deceptive winners. He cruised to a 3-0 win to give his team 3rd place in the overall standings.

Pictured below are the Organizers of the Challenge Squash Tournament (l-r) Brett Erasmus (New York Organizer), Richard Von Hirschberg (New England Coordinator) and Patrick Foster (Director of Squash at BSRA).

When interviewed after the prize presentation, Brett Erasmus, organizer of the two American teams paid tribute to the BSRA and Patrick Foster for organizing a first class tournament. He described how, for many years he had regaled David Uprichard about the joys of living in Bermuda (Erasmus was a former Bermuda resident of the Island) and Uprichard had challenged him to arrange a visit to the Island for members of their squash club in New York. And that is exactly what Erasmus did after liaising with the BSRA. A team of 8 players , all men, came to Bermuda 3 years ago and were so enthusiastic about their visit that word spread about the idea of playing squash in Bermuda in November and also taking in a few of World Rugby Classic matches.

Erasmus expressed confidence that there is great potential to expand the tournament even more by attracting teams from Philadelphia, Toronto and other North American cities, pointing out that squash is a growing sport in the U.S. and is very popular in the north-east.

Patrick Foster, Director of Squash at the BSRA agreed that the Challenge tournament can attract not only more teams in the future, but also families and friends of the players because of its purpose of being a social tournament where players of all standards can compete. Foster said he was delighted with the success of the event.

RESULTS – SATURDAY 13th NOVEMBER

BERMUDA ‘A’ v NEW YORK

• Micah Franklin (Bda A) defeated David Uprichard (NY) 11-6,11-8,11-9.
• Tony Prentice (Bda A) lost to Harrison Sebring (NY) 6-11, 14-12, 7-11, 4-11.
• Peter Barrett (Bda A) defeated Topher Patterson (NY) 11-3,11-6,11-5.
• Daniel Sullivan (Bda A) defeated Liz Martin (NY) 13-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8.
• Greg Fitzgerald (Bda A) defeated Steve Carter (NY) 11-9, 11-7, 11-9, 6-11.
• Christian Ince (Bda A) lost to Sergei Parmenov (NY) 11-8, 8-11, 5-11,
• Shane McDonnell (Bda A) lost to Michael Malinowitz (NY) 11-8, 8-11, 4-11, 13-11, 6-11
• Jane Chapman (Bda A) lost to Camilla Lancaster (NY) 11-9, 9-11, 7-11, 9-11.
• Goretti Clementino (Bda A) lost to Tracy Gates (NY) 1-11, 10-12, 6-11.
• Jennifer Ince (Bda A) lost to Kathy Mintz (NY) 7-11, 5-11, 9-11.

NEW ENGLAND v BERMUDA ‘B’

• Thomas Kiedel (NE) lost to Tommy Sherratt (Bda B) 3-11, 7-11, 4-11.
• Richard Von Hirschberg (NE) lost to Anthony Fellowes (Bda B) 9-11, 13-15, 5-11.
• Thomas Hedemann (NE) defeated Joe Budzynski (Bda B) 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4.
• Chris Ceasar (NE) defeated Padraic Browne (Bda B) 11-7, 11-8, 11-5.
• Joe Lardner (NE) defeated Donnavon Furbert (Bda B) 11-3,11-9, 11-5.
• Navin Mehta (NE) defeated Tony Sampson (Bda B) 11-4, 11-2, 11-2.
• Elliott Gersten (NE) lost to Murray Brewer (Bda B) 12-14, 14-12, 14-11, 11-5.
• Amy Habbas (NE) lost to Mary Brewer (Bda B) 9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 4-11.
• Lauri Sklar (NE) defeated Michele Turner (Bda B) 11-4, 11-5, 11-6.
• Suzie Boulos (NE) lost to Michelle Hodder (Bda B) 1-11, 2-11, 5-11.

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