Scottish Open Squash Blog

December 30, 2005 - DAY 5
Last update from Scotland. We got up early this morning despite the 12:00 first match time for what the kids thought was "training". Little did they know Preston and I had a surprise in store for them. As we kept driving in the van, the kids started questioning where we were going. We deflected all questions as long as we could as the trip got up to 45 minutes long in snow and rain. Finally someone noticed a sign on the road and figured it
out. The sign read St. Andrews 15

We trekked through the bad weather and slow roads to visit the most hallowed of grounds of golf. We parked the car and walked right out onto the 18th Green. We then walked right down the fairway to the famous White's Bridge where so many of the best golfers in history have walked on their way to finish their round on the old course. It was a cold, wet, and long trip, but one the boys will remember and cherish for a lifetime.

After our journey Team USA took to court for their final matches--

BU19

9/10 place
9/16* Mark Froot lost to 3/4* Nathan Stevenson (AUS) 6-9, 5-9, 9-6, 8-9

13/14 place
Steven Peever (CAN) lost to 5/8* Trevor McGuiness 6-9, 2-9, 2-9

15/16 place
Todd Ruth lost to David Canner 9-4, 3-9, 9-10, 10-9, 9-10

19/20 place
Reed Endresen lost to Ian Tennant (SCO) 2-9, 5-9, 9-4, 9-0, 6-9

21/22 place
Nathan Kam (AUS) lost to Porter Drake 9-5, 1-9, 3-9, 5-9

23/24 place
Curtis Tomlinson (ENG) WO Christopher Thompson

25/26 place
9/16* Gavin Sutherland (SCO) lost to Travis Judson 10-8, 7-9, 0-9, 1-9

BU17

5/6 place
5/8* Zac Alexander (AUS) bt 5/8* Chris Callis 9-0, 9-4, 9-3

25/26 place
Stephen Preefer bt 17/32* Ben Ladell (CAN) 2-9, 3-9, 9-5, 9-4, 9-3

We are off to play our team hard ball doubles mini tourney before one more team dinner. We are on early flights out tomorrow! Happy New Year.

BLOG From Chris Smith:

December 29, 2005 - DAY 4
Hi from Scotland. Things are winding down here but the most important matches are yet to follow. We have a great day planned tomorrow. We are getting up early for some morning team training before we head to the courts for our matches. Following the last matches we return the rental mini van and head to the only hard-ball doubles court in the UK for a Team Doubles Tourney. Everyone is fighting to play with Preston, but I dont think they are going to get their wish. I think the world #3 ranked doubles player is going to play by himself and still beat us all.

In action today

9/16* Mark Froot bt 9/16* Conor O'Hare [IRL] 9-3, 9-4, 9-3
Todd Ruth lost to Steven Peever [CAN] 7-9, 4-9, 7-9
5/8* Trevor McGuiness bt David Canner 9-3, 9-3, 8-9, 9-3
Reed Endresen lost to 5/8* Matt Reece [AUS] 9-5, 1-9, 0-9, 7-9
Christopher Thompson lost to Porter Drake 9-6, 3-9, 3-9, 1-9
Neil Campbell [IRL] lost to Travis Judson 0-9, 2-9, 0-9

Action tomorrow-

9/10 place- 9/16* Mark Froot v. 3/4* Nathan Stevenson [AUS]
13/14 place- Steven Peever [CAN] v. 5/8* Trevor McGuiness
15/16 place- Todd Ruth v. David Canner
19/20 place- Reed Endresen v. Ian Tennant [SCO]
21/22 place- Nathan Kam [AUS] v. Porter Drake
23/24 place- Curtis Tomlinson [ENG] v. Christopher Thompson
25/26 place- 9/16* Gavin Sutherland [SCO] v. Travis Judson

BU17 results

Chris played well today but didnt have enough in the tank after his gutsy performance last night.

3/4* Carsten Schoor [GER] bt 5/8* Chris Callis 9-3, 6-9, 9-1, 9-3
Stephen Preefer bt 17/32* Benjamin Mateus [POR] 9-5, 9-5, 9-2 5/8*

Chris Callis WO 5/8* Rudi Willemse [RSA]
17/32* Matthew Bain [SCO] 1 Stephen Preefer

Tomorrow's matches
5/6 playoff- /8* Zac Alexander [AUS] v. 5/8* Chris Callis
25/26 playoff- Stephen Preefer v. 17/32* Ben Ladell [CAN]

BLOG From Chris Smith:

December 28, 2005 - DAY 3
An up and down day for Team USA. We had 4 players in the 3rd round main draw in the BU19 this morning all on court at the same time. Preston and I were moving between courts and got to watch Trevor, Todd, Mark and David all come close in taking their opponents down. Unfortunately, it wasn't USA's day.

David Glass (1) CAN- beat Mark Froot (9/16) 9-7, 9-3, 4-9, 9-5
Greg MacArthur (5/8) SCT- beat Todd Ruth (9-4) 9-1, 9-1
Adam Bews- 5/8 SCT beat Trevor McGuiness (5/8) 4-9, 9-4, 9-5, 2-9, 9-6
Max Lee (2) HKG beat David Canner 2-9, 3-9, 5-9

In bottom half of the draw in 3rd round action

Porter Drake beat Travis Judson 3-0
Chris Thompson beat Neil Campbell (IRL) 3-0
Peter Sopher beat Chris Vernick (USA) 3-0

Round 4 matches tonight-
Mark Froot beat Todd Ruth 3-2
Trevor McGuiness lost to Nathan Stevenson (AUS) 8-9, 9-3, 9-2, 2-9, 9-6
Dave Canner lost to Rex Hendrix (AUS) 9-7, 10-8, 9-8
Reed Endresen beat Curtis Tomlinson (ENG) 2-9, 9-3, 6-9, 1-9
Chris Thompson lost to Ian Tennant (SCT) 9-1, 9-0, 9-0
Porter Drake lost to Colin West (CAN) 7-9, 1-9, 1-9
Travis Judson beat Robert Adam (SCT) 9-2, 9-5, 8-10, 4-9, 9-1

BU17- in action today has our lone player still in the main draw- Chris Callis had a great showing today on court. After a bye in day one, and an early morning hit by himself at the Carlton hotel, Chris made his way out to the courts.

Chris took on Fred Reid (CAN) first today and took him in a tough battle 3-1. Chris then took on a surprising player from South Africa Richard Dodd, who has taken down two seeded players to get to the round of 16. Chris went down quickly 2-0 due to Dodd's quickness. Chris went back out in the third with some legs left but quickly fell down 6-0. Dont let the score and being 3 points away from losing the match fool you-- Chris had played Dodd very well all along. Chris dug deep and started rattling a few points off. Soon it was 6-6 in the third and the growing crowd could sense that Dodd was tiring. Preston and I knew that if Chris took the game, the match would be his. He finished off the game 9-7 and came off court fired up.

Fitting that Chris was wearing a Steve Prefontaine (the runner from U Oregon in the mid 70's) "GO PRE" t-shirt because Chris became "Pre" tonight. Chris was ready to run and used the same rare combination of talent, discipline, determination, and star-quality that Prefontaine used as a runner. He finished the next two games out 9-3,9-0 to carry on to the Quarter Finals. After a scream and his staple fist-pumps, Chris came off court and declared that he had never won before after being 0-2 down. Due to his amazing efforts, Chris got today's game ball from Preston and I.

Chris faces 3/4 seed Carsten Schoor (GER) in tomorrow's quarter finals.

BLOG From Chris Smith:

December 27, 2005 - DAY 2
First round matches got under way today.

RESULTS
Trevor McGuiness (5/8 seed) beat Neil Campbell (IRE) 3-0
Peter Sopher lost to Andrew Birks (ENG) 3-1
Chris Callis (5/8 seed) and had bye
Reed Endresen lost to (5/8 seed) Greg McArthur 3-0
Chris Thompson lost to Adam Bews (SCT) 3-0
Porter Drake lost to 5/8 seed Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-0
Steven Preefer beat Peter Halliday (SCT) 3-0
Travis Judson lost to 9/16 seed Rex Hendrick (AUS) 3-0
Todd Ruth won by W/D
Mark Froot (9/16 seed)- beat Curtis Tomlinson (ENG) 3-0
Dave Canner beat 9/16 seed Robert Adam (SCT) 3-0

3rd round main draw and conso matches start tomorrow at 9am. Results to come.

BLOG From Chris Smith:

December 26, 2005 - DAY 1
Hi from Scotland. All is well here. No issues with travel today. All flights were made and all bags accounted for. We all rolled into the apartments today around 10am and got settled and rested. The apartments are beyond our wildest expectations. We have so much space, our own comfy beds, big leather couches, big screens, wireless, and fully stocked kitchen (which Preston and I are very happy that its complete with a french press for the dunkin donuts coffee I brought from home. Here are some photos I took today from the area.

After we got settled we headed to the Carlton hotel for some squash complete with an Offense/Defense Team Challenge. The losing team had to cook dinner tonight. And what a great job they did preparing a pasta, mac and cheese, and salad feast for us all. Parents, you should be very proud. Even the clean up after was impressive.

Tomorrow Preston and I get the mini-bus and take the first wave of kids over for their first round matches. We have lots of seeded players in both the U17 and U19 draws and we are poised to make a big impact this week.

World Championships

Individual Championships:
New Zealand - July 16-22, 2006
Blog | Photo Gallery | Player's List | US Results | Full Results

Team Championships:
New Zealand - July 23-27, 2006

Other Tournaments

US Junior Open
Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA - December 17-20, 2005
Results

For updates from the Coaches regarding the selection tour, squads and team events, please read the Coaches' Blog.