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Men's US Team PLAY OFFS
Birmingham Athletic Club
Detroit, MI - June 23-25, 2006
BLOG & RESULTS | Photo
BLOG from Jeff Sneyd
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Christopher Gordon and Ryan Donegan both qualified for the US Team playing in the Pan Am Federation Cup in Colombia this September.
Today Donegan beat Beau River 9-4, 9-4, 9-6 in 42 minutes. Ryan was really on his game moving River all over the court, not letting up at all. River was up 6-3 in the third but Donegan rallied to 6 straight unanswered points to take the match.
The next match had Gilly Lane up against Christopher Gordon on this beautiful June afternoon. This match proved to be the most exciting match of the weekend. First game Gordon was up 8-3 playing tight rails and being really focused. Lane was having a hard time getting going but somehow got to 9-8 game ball. A quick Gilly nick gave him the first game 10-8. The next game Gordon came out strong and took game 2 9-4. The third was neck and neck with Lane really lifting his game to another level. Lane has very good court speed and we could see some frustration in Gordon's face with all the amazing gets. Lane wins game three 10-9. The fourth was 9-2 Gordon in 8 minutes. The all important fifth game was a nail-biter. Lane was pumped and started out shooting. Gordon was playing his steady pace and kept Lane behind him most of the time. At 3-3 there was a huge rally won by Gordon and you could sense a victory for Gordon. Lane hit a low lob to Gordon's backhand and Gordon slammed a cross court nick winner. Lane said "This guy is 6 feet 3 how can you give him that shot", Gordon responded saying "I am 6 foot 2!" Lane tried to get the momentum back but Gordon was too much for Lane during this 64 minute match.
Final standings:
Christopher Gordon 12 points
Ryan Donegan 8 points
Gilly Lane 7 points
Beau River 0 points
Saturday, June 24, 2006
First match-Gilly Lane def Beau River 9-1, 9-4, 9-5 in 47 minutes. Gilly and Beau were both feeling each other out in first game, long rallies, great gets by Lane. Beau really trying to be patient making no mistakes, but Gilly was on to everything Beau was firing. Beau started shooting more in second becoming a little impatient, finding lots of tin. Both players were making a lot of mistakes, but Lane still had more energy left. Third game was all Lane.
Second match -Christopher Gordon def Ryan Donegan 9-2, 9-4, 9-3 in 52 minutes. Donegan never seemed comfortable during entire match. Lots of bumping and colliding with Gordon in front left court, drop shot after drop shot, left Donegan frustrated and upset with the decisions from referee Michael Peurtas. Amazing retrieving by Gordon eventually got to Donegan forcing three in a row tins in third game bringing score to 6-0. Ryan eventually got going bringing score to 6-3, then a no let call brought game to 7-3, then Donegan tinned twice losing the match 3-0 to a pumped up Gordon.
Going into the Final day Sunday, June 25 here are the standings:
Gordon 6 pts.
Lane 4 pts.
Donegan 3 pts.
River 0 pts
Sunday match ups are 12:00 pm River vs Donegan, followed by Lane vs Gordon. Gordon is playing like he is really focused on securing a spot on the Pan Am Team, still the matches on Sunday will determine who will join Crombie and Peurtas in Colombia this September.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Excellent matches this evening at the Birmingham Athletic Club....first off Beau River vs Christopher Gordon, 26 min first game, 9-7 to Gordon. 9-2, 9-6 rest of match to Gordon. Lots of energy by Gordon, River tried a comeback 6-3 up in third, but not enough to stop Gordon.
Match #2 Lane on fire, high paced first game 9-3 to Lane. Donegan slowed pace down completely 9-2 to Donegan. Next two games were 9-4, 9-0 3-1 match score to Donegan in 44 minutes.
Sat match up River vs Lane then Donegan vs Gordon, Sun matches River vs Donegan and Lane vs Gordon.
Posted by Squash Webmaster.
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