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Guilfoyle Financial PSA Classic 2016
22-27 Feb, Toronto Cricket Club,
Canada, $5k |
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27-Feb, Final:
[1] Martin Knight 3-0 [6]
Daniel Poleshchuk 11/9, 11/5, 11/5
Knight takes Toronto title
Robin Clarke reports
It was a final on paper not
to be missed – on par with the best rivalries in sport: Ali-Fraser,
McEnroe-Borg, Nicklaus-Palmer, Power-Nicol, Richards-Simpson. The
young up and comer vs the wily veteran. Israeli vs Kiwi.
 I
tried to come up with a joke and I couldn’t but I’m sure PJ and Joey
would have had something hilarious and witty. Actually I just found
out PJ weighed 10.5 stone when he played… Wicked commentary.
First Game: The squash was solid, both players hitting good
length and moving the ball around the court but Daniel was the
better player and had more opportunities each and every rally to
close it out. When you think Daniel had momentum he would make a
mistake and allow Martin back in the rally.
The Israeli made 8 mistakes in the first game which is the real
reason he lost. But man Daniel moves so well across the middle of
the court I could actually hear Simpo’s hips crying in jealousy all
the way from Guernsey.
Second game: Started very similar to the first. Daniel moving
Martin around the court nicely but Daniel at one point during every
rally seems to get too cute and plays a silly shot allowing Martin
to come storming back.
It reminded me of the time squash player Sean Delierre once said,
“You need to give each shot the respect it deserves.”
Daniel did not and was paying the
price (bet you never thought I would use a Delierre quote!) At 4-3
for Martin in the second I noticed a slight face change on Daniel.
It was the face of constipation, exhaustion or injury. Unfortunately
it turned out not to be constipation, but injury.
He took a 3 minute break to have a look at his hamstring (Geoff
Demont giving him a nice massage) and when play resumed he could
only manage to lunge off his left leg which never allowed him to
move fluidly or give him the ability to put Martin under any sort of
pressure. Martin did the right thing and was persistent in his
approach and didn’t change his game plan knowing he might have an
injured opponent.
Persistence pays off in most scenarios. Today it did for Martin
Knight. Many years ago it did not for Frankcomb. Four hours of an
excruciatingly painful over the top Australian accent can never
secure a victory when the girls hotness level is much higher than
the individuals height.
Third Game: Unfortunately for the crowd it was clear Daniel
was struggling. All credit to Daniel however as I’m sure in most
scenario’s he would have pulled out of the match at the start of the
game. He continued to play I believe so the packed gallery could
watch a little more high performance squash.
Martin looked good throughout the event and deserves the victory. He
is so hot right now I bet he’s already swiped Tinder 150 times to
keep his momentum going.
 Great
week of squash.
Rumblings were heard saying I was one of the best tournament
organizers they’ve ever witnessed and the event was one of the best
they’ve ever been a part of.
It is not possible without the support of the sponsors, billets,
members and players and I’m fortunate to have a great environment to
work in.
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The Clarke guide for Tournamenr
Organisers ...
The main points tournament organizers must remember to do when
hosting an event are the following:
1. Just give the players 1 free meal a day and it’s like
giving candy to a baby.
No Sunny, you can’t have a second meal today. Yes Albert you can
have a gluten free meal. Yes Martin you can order the pasta special.
No Nick you can’t order a pasta and a sandwich.
Yes Serediak I will buy you 1 Guinness but I swear to god if I see
you with a second you are in big trouble.
2. If you use billets have them walking distance from the
club. Ease of access is important so they don’t bug you.
3. Create a court flow for player practice so 4 players don’t
show up all at the same time with only 6 courts available for them
to practice on.
4. Pay them in Canadian funds so they all lose a small amount
of their already low prize money on the exchange rate.
5. String player rackets for FREE!
6. Take pictures of the players AFTER they finish their warm
up so you distract them and create chaos in an already fragile mind
of a PSA pro player.
7. Finally, the best part of running PSA events are the
friendships you develop afterwards.
As the great Robert Bloch once said: “ Friendship is like peeing on
yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling
that it brings.”
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  GF
PSA Classic 2016
22-27 Feb, Toronto, Canada, $5k |
Round One
24 Feb |
Quarters
25 Feb |
Semis
26 Feb |
Final
27 Feb |
[1] Martin Knight (Nzl)
11/2, 11/8, 11/4
[Q] Dan Bergin (Wal) |
[1] Martin Knight
11/2, 11/6, 11/7
[8] Sunil Seth |
[1] Martin Knight
11/9, 11/3, 11/9 (60m)
[4] Geoffrey Demont |
[1] Martin Knight
11/9, 11/5, 11/5
[6] Daniel Poleshchuk
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[8] Sunil Seth (Guy)
9/11, 8/11, 11/5, 12/10, 11/9
Albert Shoihet (Can) |
[7] Matthew Serediak (Can)
11/9, 11/4, 11/3
Kale Wilson (Tri) |
[7] Matthew Serediak
11/6, 11/3, 11/3
[4] Geoffrey Demont |
[4] Geoffrey Demont (Fra)
11/4, 11/3, 11/3
[wc] Rahul Sehrawat (Can) |
[Q] Nick Sachvie (Can)
11/9, 11/3, 11/7
[3] Joe Chapman (Bvi) |
[Q] Nick Sachvie
12/10, 11/6, 11/9
[5] Mike McCue |
[Q] Nick Sachvie
9/11, 11/9, 11/9, 11/7
[6] Daniel Poleshchuk |
[Q] Cameron Seth (Can)
11/6, 11/4, 11/6
[5] Mike McCue (Can) |
David Baillargeon (Can)
11/3, 11/9, 7/11, 11/5
[6] Daniel Poleshchuk (Isr) |
[6] Daniel Poleshchuk
6/11, 11/8, 18/16, 11/8
[2] Jaymie Haycocks |
[Q] Owen Butler (Can)
11/6, 11/6, 11/6
[2] Jaymie Haycocks (Eng) |
23-Feb, Qualifying Finals:
Nick Sachvie (Can) 3-1 Marco Toriz-Caddo (Mex)
11/8, 9/11, 11/1, 11/4
Dan Bergin (Wal) 3-1 Julian Morrison (Jam)
12/10, 11/6, 6/11, 11/8
Cameron Seth (Can) w/o Mohanad Hekal
w/o
Owen Butler (Can) 3-2 Stefan Houbtchev (Usa)
8/11, 11/7, 11/8, 9/11, 11/4
22-Feb, Qualifying Round One:
Marco Toriz-Caddo (Mex) 3-0 Jackson Kay (Can)
11/8, 13/11, 13/11
Julian Morrison (Jam) 3-2 Thomas Manley (Can) 8/11,
9/11, 11/9, 11/0, 11/7
Dan Bergin (Wal) 3-0 William Kuhn (Can)
11/5, 11/3, 11/8
Mohamed Hekal 3-0 Francisco Mendez-Correa (Mex)
11/9, 13/11, 11/9
Cameron Seth (Can) 3-0 Alex Collins (Can)
11/2, 11/4, 11/8
Owen Butler (Can) 3-0 Ryan Osbourne (Can)
11/8, 11/5, 11/1
Stefan Houbtchev (Usa) 3-0 Thomas King (Can)
11/8, 11/2, 11/7
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26-Feb, Semiss:
Down to the last two in Toronto
Robin Clarke reports
Top seed Martin Knight continued his impressive form in Toronto
as he reached the final with a straight-games win over Geoffrey
Demont, where he'll face young Israeli Daniel Poleshchuk, who ended
the run of Canadian qualifier Nick Sachvie.
Martin Knight beat
Geoffrey Demont 3-0
The 3-0 score is not indicative of how closely this match was
played. Martin came out strong in the first, leading 6-0 but only
because Geoffrey made 5 errors and seemed to be a little distracted
by the amount of noise in the crowd.
With 130 kids playing in a junior tournament and a doubles pro-am
all happening during the same time as the semi-finals it would have
been almost impossible to have complete silence. He recovered nicely
and inched back to 9-10 before conceding the game and going down
1-0.
The second was quick as Martin continued his Pitbull style of play,
continuing to pound his length and moving Geoffrey around the court.
The third was very close as we finally saw these two players go toe
to toe in each rally.
Geoffrey really does move the ball around nicely and has technique
even Shabana would be proud of. All is all an enjoyable match to
watch and Martin moves on to the finals.
Daniel Poleshchuk beat Nick Sachvie 3-1
Nick felt good going into the match and he looked it as he was sharp
around the middle, hunting the loose ball and taking it in
exceptionally. He started strong in the second going up 6-3 but
Daniel never stops. He continues to hit the ball with pace and will
never give up a rally without making every effort to retrieve the
ball. Very similar to Nadal however Nadal has bigger biceps.
The score line indicates this was close match and it was. To be
honest Nick could have walked away with this match 3-0 if he could
have continued to apply pressure when leading. He had leads in each
of the first 3 games but could never step on the throat and finish
it off. It really came down to inches and when Nick lost the third
game 11-9 you could see he lost a little bit of pep.
Although he led in the fourth again 6-2, Daniel came storming back
to take the next 7 points and finish the match off 11-7, making it
back to another PSA 5k finals.
Tomorrow’s matchup is enticing and one the crowd will thoroughly
enjoy.
Apologies for the lack of creativity on this write up. It’s been
a hectic day and I promise the final write up tomorrow will be one
not to miss!
Everyone I’ve ever known during my PSA career is on the hit list and
I will find a way to tell embarrassing stories about those I like
with descriptions of the finals. As well as pictures… lots of
pictures!
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25-Feb, Quarters:
Sachvie continues run in Toronto
Robin Clarke reports
Qualifier Nick Sachvie kept home hopes alive as he produced a
second successive upset to join the remaining top seeds in the semis
...
Martin Knight beat Sunny Seth 3-0
 Martin
Knight is a Pitbull on court … actually scratch that Pitbull’s are
illegal in Ontario so let’s go with a Rottweiler.
He’s relentless with his power and pressure length, and when given
the opportunity has developed a very nice straight volley drop.
I thought Sunny played well and went toe to toe with Martin on more
than one occasion but the new Zealander was too steady and advances
to the semi-finals in convincing fashion.
The fact that Martin came out in all black gear was fitting and I
was a little disappointed he didn’t start the match off with the
Haka.
Geoffrey Demont beat Matt Serediak 3-0
Geoffrey is now my favorite French player after Yann Perrin, Fabian
Versaille, Renan Lavigne, Gaultier and Stephan Galifi. That’s saying
a lot because I always loved hanging out and pretending I could
speak French with all those guys.
Interestingly enough he is similar to all those players in one way
or another. Has fluid movement like Galifi, great hands like
Versaille, the physicality of Gaultier, the backhand drop like Renan
and Yan ... he’s good looking like Yann.
All in all he’s a class act and even the veteran Matt “The Duck”
Serediak couldn’t keep up with all those attributes I just
described.
Nick Sachvie beat Mike McCue 3-0
 The
roommates battled it out in front of a packed gallery. The first
game took about 30 minutes and mike found himself up 10-4 with a
commanding league. Little did he know Sachvie was only starting to
turn it on and came back to tie it 10-10 and won the game 12-10.
This really sucked the energy out of Mike who said after the match
he felt heavy and unable to sustain the pace Mike was throwing at
him. Nick is looking really good going into the semi-finals.
I have also had 7 beers after writing this paragraph so hopefully it
makes sense without too many spelling mistakes. I love Daryl Selby
...
Daniel Poleshchuk beat Jaymie Haycocks 3-1
I didn’t see any of this match but rumor before the match was Jaymie
was in bed all day feeling like he was coming down with the flu.
Tough break as Daniel never stops running or putting pressure on his
opponents. He is a solid player, steady and able to attack at will.
Tomorrow’s semi-final will be a great contest.
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24-Feb, Round One:
Sachvie joins seven seeds inToronto quarters
Robin Clarke reports
The first round at Toronto Cricket Club saw seven of the eight
seeds progress to the quarter-finals, with qualifier Nick Sachvie
one of three Canadian winners ...
Martin Knight beat Dan Bergin 3-0
Martin looked sharp today again the Welshman, who made it through
qualifying and looked good throughout. Dan’s attacking game is solid
and he is able to move the ball around the court nicely. Martin
however is a great retriever and was able to handle each attaching
shot from Dan and was able to win 3-0 in convincing fashion.
Truthfully, I saw 3 points of this match as I was refereeing on the
other court so everything written in this quick paragraph is likely
incorrect ...
Sunny Seth beat Albert Shoihet 3-2
Match of the night between these two fiercely competitive players.
Albert started out crushing the ball and moving Sunny around the
court nicely in the first game. He played patient and took advantage
of every opportunity Sunny gave him through the middle. He continue
his form in the second going up 9-5, when Sunny went on a run and
won the next 3 points to make it 8-9 and looked to have all the
momentum.
Unfortunately Albert came off court bleeding and as everyone knows
including Sunny the player is allowed as much time as needed to stop
the bleeding before proceeding on court. Sunny was clearly
frustrated with the amount of time taken, and when Albert came back
on court he quickly won the next 2 points to go up 2-0.
The next 3 games were hotly contested, with much debate with the
referee (your truly) including a demanded shirt changed from Sunny
as Albert had a tiny speck of blood (took me a while to notice but I
found it). Either way both players were pushing hard, battling for
the T and trying not to give the other any advantage. When Albert
was patient and moving the ball around the court he won most of the
rallies. When he took the ball in short too early he was punished
and under pressure.
It came down to the wire but a careless drop from the back from
Albert sealed the deal and Sunny was able to win 3-2 and advance.
Matt Serediak Beat Kale Wilson 3-0
Didn’t see this match but the score line indicates Serediak was all
over Kale. “The Duck” marches his way into the Quarter Finals.
Geoffrey Demont Beat Rahul Sehrawat 3-0
 Rahul
is a top junior in Canada and had the opportunity to play Geoffrey
Dumont from France. Ironically Rahul wore a French national team
squash jersey in the match, maybe trying to throw his opponent off?
Didn’t work as Geoff ran Rahul around the court with his impressive
movement and technique.
After the match a junior named Jack Jones from the Cricket Club
asked Geoff if he could play him a few points. Geoff agreed and Jack
has never been happier and more eager to become a top level squash
player. Classy move Geoff.
Nick Sachvie beat Joe Chapman 3-0
Again I was on court during this match so I was unable to see any
points. Nick yesterday needed to be more confident in his attacking
game. He creates many opportunities in the middle of the court with
his good length and court movement but tends to hold and hit to the
back too much extending the rally and allowing his opponent to
regain control of the T. My assumption is today he was better and
took out the 3rd seed 3-0 to advance. Tasty matchup tomorrow as the
room mates who snapchat each other far too much going to the
bathroom battle it out in the Quarter Finals.
Mike McCue beat Cameron Seth 3-0
Obviously a well-played match from Mike. Great job.
Daniel Poleshchuk beat David Baillargeon 3-1
Really enjoyed this match as both players moved the ball around the
court nicely and are able to attack and defend beautifully. The
Frenchman I thought played well and if not for a few unlucky calls
might have been able to extend the match to 5 games which I think
the crowd was hoping for. All credit to Daniel Poleshchuk who fought
hard and had the support of his family and PSA Jay to pull him
through.
Jaymie Haycocks beat Owen Butler 3-0
Jaymie showed why he is the one of the favorites for this event. He
is able to move the ball around the court effortlessly and is able
to hit a 3 wall boast at will. He should take up hardball doubles.
Owen is a class player with tremendous technique and an ability to
take the ball in short nicely when given the opportunity.
Owen doesn’t play a lot of PSA events but if he decided to play more
he will see significant improvement and would likely battle it out
with some top class players. His beard is a little heavy so with a
quick trim he would have likely have been able to retrieve a few
more balls. I like Owen, can you tell!
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23-Feb, Qualifying Finals:
Qualifying complete in Toronto
It was a good day for the hosts
at Toronto Cricket Club as three Canadians made it through to the
main draw.
Nick Sachvie and Owen Butler both won tough matches
while Cameron Seth enjoyed a walkover. Sachvie now faced
third seed Joe Champman while Seth meets fellow Canadian Mike McCue.
Butler has the envious take of taking on second seeded Jaymie
Haycocks, while the other qualifier, Wales' Dan Bergin, meets
top seed Martin Knight.
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