|
BLOG | Photo Gallery | Player's List | US Results | Full Results
Blog | Photo Gallery | Schedule | Player's List | US Results | Full Results
Blog from Coach Chris Smith
Palmerston North Time:
Friday, July 21 5:42PM
Mark Froot to the court today in the Semi-Finals of the Plate Draw.
He faced his second member of the deep South Africa Team. After
taking down a non-team player yesterday, Mark faced their #2 Jason
Cole Niven. Today’s match was on the stadium show court in the huge
Arena Manawatu. Mark had an early morning practice session on the
court to help adjust to the court. The glass court takes a lot to get
used to in general but like all the courts here in NZ, this glass
court is very cold. Mark couldn’t get his depth down in his practice
session and this continued in the start of his match.
Being a little off his game and depth while facing a strong foe, Mark
went down early in the first game and had little control of the ball.
He started to get things back to form at the end of the game but it
wasn’t enough and he dropped the game 10-9. Hoping to get his length
figured out in game two, Mark still couldn’t put things together and
dropped the next game 9-0. Mark was complaining of some shin splints
and didn’t feel confident in his game. He went back out to what the
crowd that had gathered assumed was the last game. Mark showed his
toughness and after falling behind 5-1 in the third, something
clicked.
The American captain never looked back. He took the third 9-6 despite
his shins being in obvious pain. During the break, I rolled out the
pain with our “massage stick” while Mark got his breath. Mark’s depth
continued working for him and he took the match momentum stayed with
him. He won the next two games 9-4, 9-2. This was a huge win for
Mark and for Team USA. By showing the seeding committee that our #2
took down South Africa’s #2, Mark made the case that Team USA should
be seeded higher. Its up to the seeding committee now.
Mark is into the Finals tomorrow at 1:30 against Australia's #1 Zach
Alexander.
The team is about to head over to watch the semi finals and learn of
our seeding for the team event.
Posted by Squash Webmaster.
Blog from Coach Chris Smith
Palmerston North Time:
Thursday, July 20 7:07PM
Trevor just got done with an amazing match against Hong Kong's #1,
Max Lee. Trevor lost 3-2 in a tough battle that had each player
exhausted afterwards.Trevor's close battle with Lee may give the USA
a very strong case to be seeded over Hong Kong come Friday's
re-seeding of the team event. Todd Ruth (USA's #6) beat Hong Kong's
# 3 yesterday.
Earlier today, Trevor beat Japan's #1,Yuuta Fukui, 3-0
Mark Froot continues to push himself and the Team forward with every
win. Today he had his hands full with a gutsy player from South
Africa, Wian Louwrens. Mark took the first two games easily 9-3, 9-1
but Louwrens battled back to knot the match at 2-2. Mark steadied
himself and took the final game 9-1. Mark moves on to the
semi-finals of the Plate Division and takes his game to the Glass
Court tomorrow at 2:00pm.
Earlier today David Canner beat Matthew Nation of NZL 3-1 to send him
to the Classic Plate Quarter Finals with Trevor. David ran into
England's #1 Chris Tasker-Grindley and lost 9-3, 9-3, 9-7. David gave
Chris a strong match and went out of the tourney on a high note as he
played well. David (USA's #7) had a great run in the tourney and our
congrats go out to his efforts.
CJ had a great run as well and his time also ran out today in the
Consolation Plate. He lost to Cameron Jamieson(NZL) 3-2. CJ has
never played better squash and we are sorry to see his time on court
end. We will look to CJ, Dave, Chris, and Todd Ruth to provide
necessary hitting partners for the team as they get ready for
Sunday's start in the Team Tournament.
Classic Plate - 2nd round
David Canner (USA) def Matthew
National (NZL) 8/10 10/9 9/1 9/4
Trevor McGuinness (USA) def Yuuta
Fukui(JPN) 9-4, 9-3, 9-3
Plate - 3rd Round
Mark Froot (USA) def Wian
Louwrens (RSA) 9-3, 9-1, 6-9,
6-9, 9-1
Consolation Plate - 1st Round
CJ Plimpton (USA) lost to Cameron
Jamieson(NZL) 9/6 2/9 9/6 1/9 9/0
Posted by Squash Webmaster.
Blog from Coach Chris Smith
Palmerston North Time: Wednesday, July 19 1:47 PM
Team USA continues its steady and focused climb through the individual
tourney. At the mid point of Wednesday's play, Team USA has three players
through into the third round of the plate draw. Unfortunately Reed
Endresen and Mark Froot have to play each other next round. Both Reed and
Mark are playing well after unlucky first round match ups. Mark, USA's #2
drew a 5/8 seed first round and Reed, USA's #3, drew a tough Egyptian.
Mark has taken out two New Zealanders in the plate so far. Reed had a huge
win over Ireland's #3 Chris O'Kane yesterday. Both are fired up to show
the ranking committee that they are some of the top 64 players here despite
their losses in the first round. Both could get through deep in this draw
of 64 had they not drawn each other in round 3. Their match goes on later
this afternoon.
Todd Ruth (Team USA's #6) just completed a gutsy 5 game triumph over Hong
Kong's #3. This win will be a big help for Team USA's seedings come the
Team Event. Todd's win today showcases the depth of Team USA and should
help strengthen our hopeful move up the team event's seeding order.
Chris Callis lost a well played 3-1 match to India's (and Trinity
College's) Manek Mathur. Chris was in the match the entire time and pushed
Manek the entire match. Chris is the first of 8 Americans to be out of the
tournament. Chris' passion and spirit for his game is an inspiration to us
all.
Results from Tues-
Callis beat Brad Kemp (AUS) 9-0, 9-0, 9-2
Mark Froot beat Luke Gordon (NZL) 9-0 9-5 9-7
Reed Endresen beat Chris O'Kane (IRL) 9-6 9-6 9-4
CJ Plimpton lost to Frank Hartkoren (NED) 5-9,9-4, 8-10, 10-8, 5-9
CJ's match was one of the most exciting battles of the tournament. CJ had
the crowd fired up and played his best squash to date.
Wednesday's Matches
2nd Round of the Plate Draw:
Chris Callis lost to Manek Mathur (IND) 3-1
Todd Ruth beat Alan Tsang (HKG) 3-2
Reed gets a walk over to the next round
Mark Froot beat Conor Matson (NZL) 3-0
Next up later this afternoon-
Ruth, Reed, and Froot all play in the 3rd round of the plate.
Classic Plate (2nd round main draw losers)
David Canner plays Reiko Peter (SUI)- 4:30pm
Trevor McGuinness plays Ramit Tandon (IND) 2:30pm
Todd Harrity plays Matt Reece (AUS) 4:30pm
Consolation Plate
CJ Plimpton plays Nathan Kam (AUS)-1:30pm
Posted by Squash Webmaster.
Blog from Coach Chris Smith
Palmerston North Time: Tuesday, July 18 3:27 PM
Maind draw 2nd round-
Trevor McGuinness lost to Yuen (MAS) 3-0
Todd Harrity lost to 2 seed Amir Atlas Khan (PAK) 3-0
Daid Canner lost to Farhan Meboob (PAK) 3-0
Plate 1st round-
Todd Ruth beat Grayson (NZL) 3-0
Cj, Reed, Chris, and Mark play in a couple hours
Blog from Coach Chris Smith
Palmerston North Time: Tuesday, July 18 8:56 am
We are about to head over to the 2nd round of matches. The tourney hasn't
been too good with posting the draws, so I thought I would inform you who is
playing who.
[17/32] Trevor McGuinness vs Chee Wern Yuen (MAS)
David Canner vs Farhan Mehboob (PAK)
Todd Harrity vs. 2 seed Amir Atlas Khan (PAK) - This is certainly the
interesting match of the day for the entire tournament with two 15 year
olds battling it out. Amir is currently ranked 55th in the World on the PSA
tour. Todd played a near perfect match on Monday hitting only two tins the
entire match. Hopefully Todd can continue to remain perfect today.
In the plate rounds:
Mark Froot plays Gordon (NZL)
Todd Ruth plays Grayson (NZL)
Reed Endresen plays O'Hare (IRL)
CJ Plimpton plays ?
Chris Callis plays Kemp (AUS)
Posted by Squash Webmaster.
Blog from Squash Webmaster
Palmerston North Time: Monday, July 17 11:00pm
Today, Trevor McGuinness, Todd Harrity, and David Canner all won their matches and advance to Round 2 of the event. Chris Callis, CJ Plimpton, Tood Ruth, Reed Endresen, and Mark Froot will play for the consolation plates. All players are guarenteed 3 matches in the Individual Championships. Click here for US Results.
In an unfortunate turn of events, Kuwait missed the first round of events due to a delay in transit. They have elected to not to play in the individual consolation plate events, but plan on playing in the team event.
Posted by Squash Webmaster.
Blog from Coach Chris Smith
Palmerston North Time: Sunday, July 16 11:45pm
East Coast America
Time: Sunday, July 16 7:45am
In our last day of prep before Monday's start of the individual event, Team
USA had a test match with Canada and took part in the opening ceremonies.
Preston and I gave the boys until early afternoon off and then headed over
for a late afternoon test match with Canada. CJ, Reed, Chris, David, and
Todd Ruth took to the court against the top 5 from our North American
counterparts. All the families who have started arriving in the last
couple days showed up to show support for the team. Its nice to have a
cheering section.
After some intense games of PAR scoring to 9, we all
headed to the hotel to get ready for the opening ceremonies. I would like
to take the time to thank both Canada and Ireland for getting on court with
us the last couple of days. It is a very good way to prep for the tourney
by playing others we arent used to being on court with. We wish the best
of luck to both teams (except when they play us).
The opening ceremonies took us over to the "other" venue for the first
time. Arena Manawatu has the 4 glass court and 1500 seats around it and
will hold some amazing squash over the next two weeks. The ceremony
featured a Fire Spinning dance called the Fire Poi and an intimidating
traditional Maori Haka Dance. We were also treated to an entrance of the
flags carried by children from Palmerston North including our very own flag
bear from the St. Mary's School.
Also with us at the ceremony were Allan
and Troy our amazing local volunteer "liaisons" who make sure the team has
everything we need. They have made us feel at home and we thank them for
their continued support. It was a wonderful night that was topped off with
a full team dinner, including parents and family, at one of the best local
restaurants in "Palmy". Thank you to our cheering and support section for
treating us to such a great dinner!
Preston and I handed out gifts to the team today in the form of native
Maori necklaces. Each player received the Hei-Matau symbol which is a
symbol of power, strength, and authority which are held in great reverence
by the Maori people. We will look to these necklaces for some added
strength this week.
After a lifetime of dedication to the sport of squash, two years of working
to make the team, and 4 weeks of training for this very moment, the games
have started for Team USA. Im so proud of this group of young men. They
truly embody the spirit of team and even in an individual sport, these
individuals have each other for strength and support.
Monday starts things off with matches starting at 11:00am NZ time (7pm).
Monday's Schedule:
Todd Ruth 11:00 am
Trevor 1:00
Todd Harrity 3:00
Reed 3:00
CJ 4:00
David 4:00
Mark 6:00
Chris 6:00
Posted by Squash Webmaster.
Blog from Assistant Coach Preston Quick
Palmerston Time: 10:47am Sun July 16
Day 4 for the team was quite eventful. We started the day with a test
match vs. Ireland. Froot and Endresen both lost their matches 3-0 and 3-1
respectively. Harrity's match ended in a 2-all draw in hopes of not
wearing out the players too much before the event.
With the days training already finished, the team headed to Wellington for
some sightseeing. The 2-hour drive from Palmerston North was highlighted
by fantastic views of mountains to the east and the ocean to the east. We
started with some culture at the Museum of New Zealand called Te Papa. The
highlight of the museum was the Lord of the Rings exhibition with exquisite
costumes and jewellery, finely worked weapons and armor. The rain kept us
from exploring the city properly, so we hit the largest movie screen in the
southern hemisphere called the Embassy Theatre. There we watched the new
'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie in a real cinema environment that is
certainly lost in most US theaters.
Sunday will begin with a test match vs. Canada followed by the opening
ceremonies in the evening. Let the games begin!
Posted by Squash Webmaster.
Blog from Coach Chris Smith
Palmerston Time: 9:21am Thu July 13
We woke up this morning to a great breakfast at the hotel and a morning
practice session at SquashGym. We are all well rested and right on the
local time table. After a couple hours of drilling and playing and some
massages, the team took the rest of the day to relax and do some final
catch up on the jet lag. The boys wanted to relax in the hotel with some
trivial pursuit battles and time on the PS2. Preston and I tried with no
success to get the boys to go exploring with us. Unfortunately for the
boys, Preston and I saw some amazing things. We drove out of Palmerston
through some tight roads around the Manawatu River up to the southern
hemisphere’s largest wind farm. The field is 55 enormous wind turbines
generates enough clean, sustainable electricity to meet the annual needs of
over 45,000 Kiwi homes. These turbines are enormous and when standing next
to one, they make some serious noise.
Friday we have two practices set up with three days left before the tourney
starts.
Posted by Squash Webmaster.
Blog from Coach Chris Smith
Palmerston Time: 2:30pm Wed July 12
East Coast America Time: 10:36pm Tues
July 11
We are all settled here in Palmerston North, NZ. We had a 30 hour trip
starting in our home towns. We met at LAX and had a 12hr flight into
Auckland. We hopped on a puddle jumper and got to Palmerston where we were
greeted by our pen-pals from St. Mary's School. There were no missing bags
or kids--which is a nice start to a journey. Our two local team liaisons
who have been assigned to help us during our stay greeted us and got us to
the hotel. The hotel is great, internet in the room,two restaurants, sauna
and fitness downstairs. We are right down the street from the main square
and walked over to see what we could find. We found a mall with lots of
goodies. We hit the food court and the kids indulged in some local lamb
kababs. Preston and I just bought a french press for our home brought
dunkin donuts! We are heading over to hit this afternoon at the main
venue. We are the 3rd team to arrive behind England and the Netherlands.
This is certainly the best tourney set up Preston and I have ever been a
part of. Things are obviously very well organized and we are in for an
amazing experience. We can walk to the courts! Its a warm 50 degrees and
sunny. Off to the courts for our first hit.
Posted by Squash Webmaster.
BLOG | Photo Gallery | Player's List | US Results | Full Results
Blog | Photo Gallery | Schedule | Player's List | US Results | Full Results
BLOG From Trevor McGuineess:
The team is packing, light training and preparing for the long flight to New Zealand. Read blog ...
BLOG From Coaches Chris Smith and Preston Quick:
Please read this blog for updates on selection tour, squads, training, and up coming tam events. Read blog ...
|
