Guilfoyle Financial PSA Squash Classic 2017
20-25 Feb, Toronto Cricket Club, Canada, $5k

25-Feb, Final:
Leandro triumphs in Toronto final
Robin Clarke reports

It’s the end of the day and I’m absolutely spent. My creative ability is gone (I never had any to begin with) and I’m unable to humor those that have come to enjoy these write ups.

I would rather make fun of and tease those I love then write a boring, long winded summary of a squash match that many of you likely wouldn’t even read but unfortunately I’ve been running around making sure a junior tournament with 150 kids is organized at a level that only few individuals could appreciate!

Congrats to Leandro and his 5K victory. He was the best player throughout the week and should feel great about taking the Guilfoyle Financial PSA squash title.



Thanks to Guilfoyle Financial, BDO, BeardWinter, Connor Clark and Lunn and Cushman and Wakefield for supporting the event and providing the prize money these players so desperately deserve.

Signing out!

Robin Clarke
 

Qualifying:

Finals:
Graeme Schnell (Can) 3-2 Leonel Cardenas (Mex) 7/11, 11/3, 13/15, 11/6, 11/8
Pranav Sharma (Can) 3-1 Le Roy Leong (Mas)               11/9, 15/17, 11/7, 11/6
Fernando Magdaleno (Mex) 3-1 Thomas Manley (Can)   11/2, 4/11, 12/10, 14/12
Stephane Galifi (Ita) 3-0 Owen Butler (Can)                           11/2, 11/4, 11/3

Round ONE:
Graeme Schnell (Can) 3-1 Hugo Varela (Esp)            11/7, 11/8, 8/11, 11/1
Leonel Cardenas (Mex) 3-1 Sam Burley (Can)           11/3, 11/7, 9/11, 11/6
Pranav Sharma (Can) 3-1 William Kuhn (Can)            11/8, 11/3, 8/11, 11/7
Le Roy Leong (Mas) 3-1 Jackson Kay (Can)              11/7, 7/11, 11/4, 11/3
Fernando Magdaleno (Mex) 3-1 Julien Gossett (Can)  11/6, 2/11, 11/9, 11/3
Thomas Manley (Can) 3-0 Francisco Mendez (Mex)          11/9, 15/13, 11/6
Owen Butler (Can) 3-1 Ahad Raza (Can)               13/11, 2/11, 11/7, 12/10
Stephane Galifi (Ita) 3-0 Ravi Seth (Can)                         11/6, 11/4, 11/3

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24-Feb, Semis:
Top two through to Toronto final
Robin Clarke reports

Unfortunately I’ve been getting some harsh criticism about my writing skills from Mike McCue – Canadian ranked number 5, professional antagonist and winner of zero 5K PSA titles.

His quarter final losses here in the past 2 years at this very event obviously propelled him beyond the 5k level in Canada. Congrats on all your success and thanks for the signed racket for the silent auction – the current highest bid is $12.

Anyhoo back to the matches:

Geoffrey Dumont 3-2 Stephane Galifi

Galifi has built a following here at the Cricket Club, and the “Galifi fanatics” were in full force. Both players were patient early on and working their length until a loose ball presented itself. As with any Galifi match, the tension was high early on and both players appealed to the ref for the other to play the ball.

I felt personally that they both needed to focus on the match and not the ref, as many easy let calls were discussed at length with referee Wayne Smith. The match was even keel for its entirety and I won’t get into details of each game, but the turning point was midway through the fourth. You could see Galifi tiring and it showed with a few lazy errors.

He did well to push through the fourth for the win but exited the court and bent over for a good minute regaining his breath. The start of the fifth Geoffrey could see the pain and was taking in the straight drop and volley straight drop at will, moving Galifi forward which created errors from the Italian.

A couple of tough calls in the end spelt the end of the match and Geoffrey should feel good to battle through and reach the finals.

Leandro Romiglio 3-0 David Baillargeon

Leandro is steady as can be. The guy doesn’t take a single ball into the front of the court, willing to just grind his opponent down with consistent length until an error is played. Had someone not known either player it would be difficult to decipher who was better.

Every game was close, there was absolutely nothing separating the two but Leandro always had a 1 or 2 point cushion which was always enough to close out each game.

He’s a fit, beautiful mover who has the ability to turn defense into offence and the final tomorrow promises to be a juicy one!
 

23-Feb, Quarters:
Robin Clarke reports

Geoffrey Demont 3-1 Graeme Schnell

The first match of the night presented itself on paper as one to watch – but I wanted to dig deeper and use stats and analytics to figure out who had an edge.

There was 1 main stat that jumped out at me. 4 hours vs 40 minutes. That’s the total time spent on court for Graeme and Geoffrey, respectfully. So obviously if I went to Vegas I would throw down on Dumont with confidence… and my money was looking good in the first game when Geoff took a 10-3 lead and finished the game off quickly.

The second started the same but Graeme is unable to give up on any ball, and continues to try to suck his opponent into errors - which is what happened in the middle of the second game. Geoffrey made a few errors, a big one at 9-6 up to give Graeme the momentum and a 10-9 lead but Graeme followed that up with a mistake of his own and went down 15-13 in a battle.

He fought hard in the third to win but the effects of the previous matches had caught up and he lost the fourth 11-1 .

Stephane Galifi 3-0 Robertino Pezzota

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED???!!!! IS THIS NOT WHY YOU ARE HERE!!! I had calls from across the globe asking for continued updates on this match. Scott Arnold from Australia even quoted on text as saying “what the hell is Galifi doing??”

The crowd of 12 for the first match swelled to 55, knowing a former top 30 player who moves like water and parties without drinking it was up on Court #1. The fireworks started early as both players took their space in the middle which created quite a bit of interference. Galifi moves the ball around beautifully, and had Robertino scrambling for most of the first game.

Only a series of mental lapses allowed Pezzota to climb back into the first but Galifi wins 11- 7. The next two games followed a similar pattern, with both players taking their space in the middle but Galifi’s hands were the difference – he has an uncanny ability to play a movement shot while under pressure to completely change the dynamic of the rally.

Robertino is a solid player but unfortunately was up against a player hungry and ready to reclaim what was once his - “The most interesting man in world”.

David Baillargeon 3-2 Anthony Graham

Two words for David Baillargeon – COUNTER DROP. Anthony’s relentless attack needed to be punished with a few more counters to move the Englishman to the front.

But the Frenchman has improved his game significantly and when he looks to volley the ball and be aggressive his game shines through.

He is a miniature version of David Phillips, but looks to have a huge heart and the body of a beautifully ripped Greco roman wrestler. God he’s good looking.

Leandro Romiglio 3-0 Kale Wilson
Quick and painless, Leandro moves onto the next round with a very comfortable 3-0 win over Kale Wilson.
 

22-Feb, Round One
Dumont and Schnell set up
quarter-final clash
Robin Clarke reports

Hugo Varela, who unfortunately was dealt the toughest qualifying draw in 5K history, was helpful in refereeing this first round match. It’s amazing what these players will do for a free meal.

Top seed Geoffrey Demont is back for revenge after last year’s semi-final loss to Martin Knight and the crowd here very much appreciates his smooth style of play.

His match against Bryan Cueto in general was a bit sloppy and I wonder if Geoff was a little nervous playing in front of his billets. The result was never in doubt but he needs to improve both his length and attack to advance further in the event.

Graeme Schnell has had to qualify against two quality opponents, resulting in him questioning his own ability after his final round win. “Am I actually this S&%T?” I believe was the quote. No, you are not Graeme but the quality of opponents will not get any easier.

Sebastien Bonmalais is an unbelievable mover and smooth as can be when under pressure. Graeme is a little rougher around the edges but intense and unable to give up on any rally. Contrasting styles led to a battle, and when I say battle I mean a journey of epic proportions.

Sebastien went up 2-0 and Graeme started to show his fatigue from the previous matches. Somehow Graeme clawed his way back, the boy has a huge heart and lungs and just won’t stop retrieving. By the mid to end of the 5th game both players were absolutely grinding out each rally, 30 shot points.

The difference was that at 8-8 in the fifth Sebastien made two unforced errors to give Graeme the two point lead. He clawed one back but Graeme sealed it after 1.5 hours of play. Huge props to Schnell for battling through another epic match.

I can’t report on any of the other matches, we are running a doubles pro am at the same time and I had to play my match during most of the other games.

It was a competitive match, I’m sure you would like to know. I played my best but unfortunately I came out the loser. I suck. I mean I tried my best but sometimes the balls don’t roll the way you want them to.