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NSA Open 2012
13-18 Aug, Toronto, $5k |
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18-Aug, Final:
[1] Dane Sharp bt [Q] Colin
West 16-14, 12-10, 6-11, 11-4
Dane defends in Toronto
Mike McCue reports
Dane Sharp successfully defended his home title with a grinding 3-1
win over hero qualifier Colin West.
Colin took an excellent start and earned a 10-5 lead in the first
game. He would go on to hold 9 game balls in total, but eventually
Sharp stole the game 16-14. In hindsight this was the key point of
the match; Dane earned not only the crucial 1-0 lead, but also the
confidence to win big points later in the match.
West again took a lead in the second, this time 8-4, and once again
Dane was able to work his way back into it with solid defense. Going
down 2-0 on two tiebreaks is clearly demoralizing, but Colin stayed
positive and finally consolidated a lead in the third to pull one
game back.
The top seed put an end to this potential comeback early in the
fourth though, and never looked at risk of losing.
So, Dane impressively defends his title, Colin reaches the final
from qualifying, and all four semi-finalists are Canada; not a bad
week for the NSA and Canadian squash overall!
17-Aug, Semis:
[1] Dane Sharp (Can) bt [3] David Letourneau (Can)
11/6, 11/8, 11/7 (54m)
[Q] Colin West (Can) bt Andrew McDougall (Can)
10-/2, 13/11, 11/2, 5/11, 11/5 (82m*)
* incl blood break
West qualifies for final
against defending Dane
Mike McCue reports
 Toronto
native Colin West achieved one of the rarest feats on the PSA
tour tonight- reaching the finals of an event as an unranked local.
Having already won four matches this week to reach the semi-finals,
Colin faced housemate Andrew McDougall in the semis, both
players seeking their first appearance in a tour final.
The first two games were attritional affairs, eventually split
one-each after two tiebreaks. The ball softened up dramatically at
the start of the third, and Colin capitalized with several quick
winners at the start of the game to establish an insurmountable
lead.
He seemed poised to carry this momentum through the fourth game as
he did last night, but Andrew was the sharper player during this
faze and forced a deciding game without too much contest.
West won the all-important opening rallies of the fifth and was too
focused to let a comeback attempt from McDougall faze him.
 Earlier
in the night, two frequent sparring partners faced off for the other
spot in the final.
Dave Letourneau beat Dane Sharp 11/9 in the fifth the
last time they met on the PSA Tour, but tonight Dane always carried
a small lead despite the three games lasting nearly an hour.
Dane is a very determined competitor, especially on his home courts,
and forced several errors out of the skilled Letourneau in the first
game.
 There
was never much separation between the two, but Dane had an air of
self-assurance throughout that seemed to give him the advantage on
crucial points.
And so the final is set; top seed versus unranked qualifier.
This is usually the mark of an opening round matchup dominated by
the favourite; but Colin has repeatedly shown that he is not your
average "local".
There is no consensus on predictions for tomorrow and it will
certainly be a war.
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Photos by Meghan McCue
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 NSA
Open 2012
13-18 Aug, Toronto, $5k |
Round One
15 Aug |
Quarters
16 Aug |
Semis
17 Aug |
Final
18 Aug |
[1] Dane Sharp (Can)
11/4, 11/6, 11/4
Luke Butterworth (Eng) |
[1] Dane Sharp
11/7, 11/3, 11/5
Matthew Serediak |
[1] Dane Sharp
11/6, 11/8, 11/7 (54m)
[3] David Letourneau |
[1] Dane Sharp
16/14, 12/10, 6/11, 11/4
[Q] Colin West |
Matthew Serediak (Can)
9/11, 7/11, 6/11, 11/7, 12/10
[Q] Seyhun Lee (Kor) |
Adrian Dudzicki (Can)
11/7, 11/7, 11/3 (28m)
[Q] Yuta Fukui (Jpn) |
[Q] Yuta Fukui
8/11, 11/7, 12/10, 11/7
[3] David Letourneau |
[3] David Letourneau (Can)
11/6, 11/6, 11/8
Cameron Stafford (Cay) |
Micah Franklin (Ber)
11/7, 11/6, 14/12
[4] Declan James (Eng) |
[4] Declan James
11/7, 11/8, 11/6
Andrew McDougall |
Andrew McDougall
10/12, 13/11, 11/2, 5/11, 11/5 (82m)
[Q] Colin West |
Andrew McDougall (Can)
11/9, 11/5, 11/5
[Q] Eric Dingle (Can) |
Tyler Hamilton (Can)
11/3, 11/6, 11/7
Mike McCue (Can) |
Mike McCue
9/11, 11/8, 11/3, 11/4
[Q] Colin West |
[Q] Colin West (Can)
9/11, 11/4, 11/6, 14/12
[2] Scott Arnold (Aus) |
Qualifying Finals:
Yuta Fukui (Jpn) 3-0 Ben Leizman (Usa)
11/6, 11/2, 11/2 Plays Dudzicki
Sehyun Lee (Kor) 3-0 James Van Staveran (CanN) 13/11,
11/7, 11/5 Plays Serediak
Colin West (Can) 3-0 Maxime Leclair (CanN)
11/0, 11/1, 11/) Plays Arnold
Eric Dingle (Can) 3-1 Nick Guest (Can)
11/7, 8/11, 11/7, 11/5) Plays McDougall
Qualifying Round One:
Yuta Fukui (Jpn) bye
Ben Leizman (Can) 3-1
Carter Robitaille (Can)
7/11, 11/8, 11/1, 11/5
James van Staveren (Can) 3-0 JC Jeffrey (Can)
11/5, 11/6, 11/8
Sehyun Lee (Kor) 3-1 Brian Hong (Can)
8/11, 11/6, 11/5, 11/4
Maxym Leclair (Can) bye
Colin West (Can) 3-0
Maxime Blouin (Can)
11/5, 11/5, 11/5
Nick Guest (Can) 3-2 William Mohr (Can)
11/5, 6/11, 11/8, 10/12, 12/10
Eric Dingle (Can) bye
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All Canadian semis
for a house party in Toronto
There was Canadian interest in every
match tonight, and at least two home semifinalists were guaranteed
even before things got underway. As it turned out, the entire last
four are from the Great White North...and three of them live in the
same house!
Andrew Mcdougall and Declan James had played once before,
with James winning 3-1. Tonight was an evenly matched affair,
neither player asserting much control for more than one rally at a
time. James did not seem confident in his shotmaking, and McDougall
was very focused and professional throughout the hour-long match. He
always had a two or three point lead and looked a good bet to win.
Another step on his comeback trail.
Yuta Fukui continued to impress as he took the first game off
Dave Letourneau. The young man from Japan moved well when
needed and played a steady game at the back of the court. He also
hit a few cheeky winners when play opened up, and Dave seemed a bit
baffled at the end of the opener.
The turning point of the match was the third game tiebreak (as it
often is when tied at 1-all), which gave the Canadian the all
important 2-1 advantage. He consolidated this lead and moved on to
his first ever PSA semi-final to face frequent training partner
Dane Sharp.
Sharp took on another familiar foe in the form of Matt Serediak.
They have both been staples of the Canadian squash scene for a good
while and met at this stage of the NSA Open last year as well.
Tonight the top seed had the extra 10% physically and stayed
comfortably ahead on the scoreboard.
As for my match....I've decided to pass on reporting duties to my
roommates for the week, Dec James and Micah Franklin.
 Dec:
"McCue came out firing in the first game and left his
opponent looking rattled by his considerable efforts. In the second,
Colin stepped the pace up and gained increasing control of
play as the match wore on."
 Micah:
"Mike looked very strong in the first game and surprised the crowd
by taking the lead. Colin began hitting more winners and fewer tins
in the next three games despite some desperate retrieving from his
opponent. The score was never close in the third and fourth."
Speaking of roommates...West, McDougall and Letourneau all share a
house. Could be an interesting Friday there...
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West upsets in Toronto round one
Mike McCue reports
There was local interest in every match of the opening round today
In Toronto. First up in the afternoon session, Calgary native and
Toronto resident Andrew McDougall downed Eric Dingle 3-0 with
some room to spare. McDougall has been going about his business
quietly as usual this week but will taking some beating.
His next opponent is Declan James, who beat Micah Franklin
(both staying with me this week!) in three reasonably close games.
Franklin started very well before James upped the quality and pace.
Watched this one on the live streaming from my apartment, about 500
metres from the club!
Adrian Dudzicki has been working extremely hard this summer but
unfortunately could not deliver the goods today. Yuta Fukui
gladly accepted several free points and ultimately won comfortably.
He has yet to be sternly tested in this event.
The closest match of the night was between Matt "the Duck"
Serediak and Sehyun Lee. Lee had served noticed of his level
with two good qualifying wins, and looked poised to beat his third
Canadian in a row as he took a 2-1 lead. Despite not getting on
court at all for the last week while visiting home, Serediak strung
together four great rallies from 7-all in the fourth to force a
fifth.
The fifth was very scrappy; too much interference and some
interesting decisions. Both players were opting for quick attacks
versus attritional rallies in the latter stages. Matt was able to
nose ahead and win the sprint to the finish, much to the chagrin of
Lee.
Dave Letourneau, returning to Toronto just yesterday after a
month in the States, clinically controlled the second Caribbean
player in the draw- Cameron Stafford. Both men are well over six
feet tall and have superb ball control. Letourneau was able to take
then initiative from the beginning and always held slight leads.
Top seeded Dane Sharp started his title defence successfully
with a straight games win over Luke Butterworth. Luke is another
player who hasn't seen too much court time recently, but plays a
clean and fair game. Dane was too strong on the night though.
The most anticipated match was the last ... Scott Arnold v Colin
West. Scott opened well and snuck the first despite a few tins
in the middle of games. Colin took charge in the next two games with
his usual weapons. The fourth game was the best of the night;
several dives, some close decisions, perfectly constructed rallies
and match balls saved. Colin was able to hit a glued backhand drop
at 13-12 to advance to the quarters...a rare feat for a qualifying
local.
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Qualifying complete in Toronto
Mike McCue reports
Four main draw spots were up for grabs Tuesday night, and there was
a mix of international pros and locals vying for these coveted
berths.
Yuta Fukui comfortably disposed of American junior Ben
Leizman in under 20 minutes and now takes on resident NSA pro
(literally), Adrian Dudzicki.
Sehyun Lee continued the Asian Qualifying Invasion in the
second match by beating James Van Staveren three-love.
The Canadian "JVS" held two game balls in the first and led 4-0 in
the second, but as in last night's match, Lee took charge in these
key situations with a steady and professional approach. He was drawn
in against another NSA regular- Matt Serediak.
Colin West is a bit of a mythical figure in Canadian squash;
feared by all due to ferocious pace and accuracy, but entering few
tournaments. He won the first 19 points against Max Leclair, and
only dropped a total of four in the entire match.
He will play #2 seed Scott Arnold tomorrow, in what many fans
(including tournament convener Jamie Nicholls) are touting as the
match of the evening. Scheduled as the nightcap at 9:15pm, it could
indeed run much later.
Finally, Eric Dingle reached the main draw here to match his
result from last year.
Local junior Nick Guest did well to take a game, but Dingle was
always the likely winner. He will now face fellow Calgary native
Andrew "Doogie Howser" McDougall.
Action gets underway tomorrow at 3:45pm (GMT-5) with the
aforementioned Dingle/McDougall affair and runs straight through the
evening.
Dane aims for NSA repeat in hometown
Preview from Mike McCue
The second annual National Squash Academy Open kicks off
Monday in Toronto's Downsview Park. The tournament is set to be
another successful event at the club which has already hosted nearly
a dozen tournaments for all levels since opening in August 2010.
The top seed is defending champion and Toronto native Dane Sharp,
who captured his only Tour title here one year ago as the fourth
seed.
This year's fourth seed is Declan James of England, who also
played this event in 2011. He takes on Bermudian (and honourary
Torontonian) Micah Franklin in the first round.
On the bottom of the draw is Scott Arnold, the Australian now
living in Toronto who is working his way back up the rankings after
a brief hiatus in 2011. The remainder of the draw is primarily
Canadian; players who train at the NSA every day and are keen to get
back into tournament matches after a full summer of training.
Andrew McDougall is also on the comeback trail, although his
time off tour was not by choice. The Calgary native is re-climbing
the world ladder after missing nearly the entire 2011-12 season with
a serious back injury. Originally meant to be in the qualifying, he
was happily promoted to the main draw last week after a withdrawal.
Another potential dark horse is former U.S. College Champion
Colin West, making a rare appearance in a PSA event.
In order to reach the main event he will need to overcome two proud
"Quebecois", in the form of Maxime Blouin and Maxym
Leclair.
Several NSA juniors, including Canadian u-15 champion Carter
Robitaille, will be making their PSA debut in the qualifying
event.
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