A little known fact: The Gambler was a great Squash'er
And that was the original lyrics! Who knew!
In case you missed last week's action.... it was an intense field with 3.0 to 5.0 players. Alejandro C. (3.5) took home first place of $72 + the $25 Marlow's Gift Card. Todd H. (3.0), second place. Roland D. (3.0), third. For the full story with video and highlights, check: RESULTS - 26 Oct Weekly Wednesday Squash SMASH Tourney
So we can start on time, be there no later than 6:15 to pay, warm up, and start.
You are not guaranteed a spot until you have paid the entry fee ($15, cash only).
16 player max. Priority will be given to those that sign up online.
$15 entry fee - Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
Handicapped, mixed skill level play - Anyone can play anyone, beginners to experts!
Double elimination - If you lose your first match you can fight back to 1st!
Matches are best 3 games - Fast and fun matches.
No commitments - Show up at 6:15 and play! That’s it.
If you do plan to play in this week's tourney, please help me out and reserve a 1-hour block on courts 2, 3, and 4 from 6:30 - 8:30 on www.MyLT.com
I will be live tweeting the tournament with pictures and some match video this week, so if you can't make it, you can follow the action on Twitter @EvenSquash. I will also post a few updates about the tournament on Facebook @EvenSquash and Instagram @EvenSquash
We had a full 8 player tournament last night with nothing but solid players from 3.0 to 5.0. Even long time player, Scott F. (4.5), aka 'Ski', was able to play. Alejandro ('Alejo') started off against a solid 3.0 player, Roland D., with hard fought, tight games but then had to go on to face Fletch C. (5.0) a player who has a lot of tourney experience and has won before.... but not this time. Confident and victorious, Alejo matched up with a 3.0 with great racket skills, Todd. H. {Background - Todd is coming back after several months off from injury and is getting his squash feet back}. In just two, not even close, games, Todd pushed Alejo down into the Losers' bracket. Here's the kicker - Alejo fought back to face Todd again in the finals - and this time things were different. Alejo C. (3.5) wins against Todd H. (3.0) with an impressive come back! Here's the final run down: 1. Alejandro C. (3.5) - $72 + $25 Marlow's Tavern Gift Card 2. Todd H. (3.0) - $33 3. Roland D. (3.0) - $15 Consolation Prizes Fletch C. (5.0) - Free NIB ball for regisrtering online Roger W. (3.5) - $25 Under the Corktree gift card player consolation prize.
The Bracket
It wasn't just the semifinals and finals that saw a lot of action. Roger W. (3.5) may have permanently damaged Fletch C (5.0) in two matches that went to the wire. In the EvenSquash Handicap System Fletch needed 16 points and Roger needed only 6; the games went 16-5 with Fletch barley coming out from some hard rallies. Speaking of rallies, I think Roland D. (3.0) takes the rally crown for the night in his match against Mario de M. (4.5). Mario is known for not letting the ball bounce twice... and so is Roland. Great gets!
There were some upsets too. Two seasoned players and both familiar with the Squash SMASH Tourneys, Jeff D. (3.0) and Scott F. (4.5) both got knocked out in the first round - glad I didn't have anyone ask me to wager... I would have picked them and lost. Mario de M. (4.5) and Roger W. (3.5), both solid players fared a bit better than Jeff and Scott, but still ended up heading home sooner than expected.
Thanks again for everyone who played. Special thanks to our sponsors, Marlow's Tavern, Sushi Nami, and Under the Corktree. We also appreciate the crowd of spectators that watched the finals and added to the excitement.
Below are some more highlights, video, and pics. Thanks again to everyone coming out to play!
I'll have next week's tourney announcement up in a day or two. Until then, you can always follow along with live updates and latest info on Twitter @EvenSquash, Facebook @EvenSquash, Instagram @EvenSquash. And you can always add your email address (see the left side bar) to get emails about the latest posts.
Get on the courts!
- Bob -
Alejo C. (3.5) (white head band) vs. Roland D. (3.0) Getting the run on
Roger W. (3.5) vs. Fletch C. (5.0) We call this, "Getting out of bed early"
Alejo C. (3.5) vs Roland D. (3.0)
Game on
Scott F. 'Ski' (4.5) vs Mario De M. (4.5)
Up and down the wall.... but not
Roger W. (3.5) (Yellow Shirt) vs. Fletch C. (5.0)
Work it, work it
Todd H. (3.0) vs Alejandro C. (3.5) (#6 Shirt)
This is uneventful.... but you can hear Roland D. on the court next door!
Roland D. (3.0) (black shirt) vs. Mario de M. (4.5)
I am sorry I missed the video of the intense rallies.... but this is what I got.
Every Wednesday at Lifetime Fitness Sandy Springs location. Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. 1st also gets a $25 Marlow's Tavern Gift Card. We also have a new one-time tourney event sponsor. Under The Corktree, located in the Prado shopping center. If we get more than 8 players, a randomly selected player will get a the $25 Under the Corktree gift card and if we get more than 10 players, we'll draw for a $50Sushi Nami Gift Card!
So we can start on time, be there no later than 6:15 to pay, warm up, and start.
You are not guaranteed a spot until you have paid the entry fee ($15, cash only).
16 player max. Priority will be given to those that sign up online.
$15 entry fee - Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
Handicapped, mixed skill level play - Anyone can play anyone, beginners to experts!
Double elimination - If you lose your first match you can fight back to 1st!
Matches are best 3 games - Fast and fun matches.
No commitments - Show up at 6:15 and play! That’s it.
If you do plan to play in this week's tourney, please help me out and reserve a 1-hour block on courts 2, 3, and 4 from 6:30 - 8:30 on www.MyLT.com
I will be live tweeting the tournament with pictures and some match video this week, so if you can't make it, you can follow the action on Twitter @EvenSquash. I will also post a few updates about the tournament on Facebook @EvenSquash and Instagram @EvenSquash
But that's ok. It's only the 3rd time we've had to cancel. Understandably, there's lots of stuff going on with everyone and that's the whole purpose of the weekly tournament - come out when you can - no commitments. Thanks to first time player that didn't play, Tucker M. (4.5), Todd H. (3.0), Mario de M. (4.5), and Roland D. (3.0) for coming out and wanting to play. They all mixed it up afterwards so everyone still got some squash in.
I'll have next week's tourney announcement up in a day or two. Until then, you can always follow along with live updates and latest info on Twitter @EvenSquash, Facebook @EvenSquash, Instagram @EvenSquash. And you can always add your email address (see the left side bar) to get emails about the latest. Get on the courts! - Bob -
This is the first ever EvenSquash Team Event and just a recap on how this works: This is not your typical squash team match up where the captain builds the player line up and then both teams play their line ups and every player plays... this is not baseball. This is more like football, the captain needs to decide who to put in the game and when based on what the other team does. It gets even harder because you only play 3 of the 5 players on the team and those 3 that play cannot have their handicaps add up to more than 11.0. It is going to require some thinking, strategy, and cool hands.
So - Starting off with Team Anjo winning the racket spin and electing to receive. Team Jeff now had to post their first player and they chose Wayne J., a solid 4.5 level player. Team Anjo thought their best chance at beating Wayne was with Todd H., their solid 3.0 player. Using the EvenSquash handicap system, the games in the match would be a 15 to 5 race (Wayne to Todd respectively) and both teams were confident their player could get the points they needed to win.
Match 1 - It was tight! It started looking pretty grim for Wayne because Todd came out of the gate with two wins (5 - 8) and (5-9). But that just seemed to wake Wayne up. Anjo used both of his timeouts to both help Todd and to slow Wayne's building momentum. It went the full 5 games, right down to the last game where both players needed 1 point to win the match (5 - 14). Match 1 goes to Team Anjo.
Match 2 - Equally tough but with more pressure. It was Team Anjo's turn to post a player and they picked Jim C. (3.5) to play their second match. Team Jeff, planning to recover from the first loss, thought that a good counter to Jim would be to post Jeff D. (3.0). From the EvenSquash handicap system, this made a 11-8 race, Jim - Jeff. Jeff came out serious and made sure he got to every ball, winning the first game 8-5. Jim was not having that and the second game went to the wire with 11-7. There was tension, lots of lets called, controversial calls, and timeouts and tense times. The last two games were 8-8 and 3-8. Match 2 goes to Team Jeff, 3 games to 1.
Match 3 - It's one match each.... this is how the pot boils. Team Jeff's turn to post and they chose Yoann B. (3.0) to anchor their team. Team Anjo was sure Luis P. (3.0) could handle Yoann in an even match up. This was a fierce game with long rallies, great gets, and lots of fun for the spectators. The final scores went Yoann to Luis, 11 - 9, 11 - 6, 7-11, and 11 - 6. Match 3 goes to Team Jeff.
Team Jeff splits the box of balls by winning with 2 of 3 matches and 8 games to 5.
Team Anjo splits the warm can of Fosters that sat in the sun during the event (about 90 min).
Thanks again to everyone that helped and played in the first ever EvenSquash Team Event. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about the format. The next event will have an 11.5 max handicap to allow a bit more freedom in player selection. The event lasted about an hour and a half so next time we'll have sudden death play start at 90 min into the event to keep things moving quickly.
On that note: I am working on another team event - bigger, better, with 6-8 teams! I'm shooting for Saturday Dec 3 and a $25 entry fee. If you think you want to play or want to form your own team, let me know and start building your team now.
So we can start on time, be there no later than 6:15 to pay, warm up, and start.
You are not guaranteed a spot until you have paid the entry fee ($15, cash only).
16 player max. Priority will be given to those that sign up online.
If you do plan to play in this week's tourney, please help me out and reserve a 1-hour block on courts 2, 3, and 4 from 6:30 - 8:30 on www.MyLT.com
I will be live tweeting the tournament with pictures and some match video this week, so if you can't make it, you can follow the action on Twitter @EvenSquash. I will also post a few updates about the tournament on Facebook @EvenSquash and Instagram @EvenSquash
Yoann B. (3.0), aka Brugie and hot off a European tour and cycling across his home country France, brought his game to last night's Weekly Wednesday Squash SMASH Tourney and bested 7 other players to come away with $72 in hard US dollars and a $25 Marlow's Gift Card. There was no ball he couldn't get to... some thought he was a French Bruce Lee on the squash court.
Congratulate Yoann when you see him!
1. Yoann B. (3.0) - $72 + $25 Marlow's Gift Card 2. Todd H. (3.0) - $33 3. Jeff D. (3.0) - $15
We had 8 solid players come out for this week's Wednesday Squash SMASH Tourney: 1 - 5.0, 1 - 4.5, 1 - 3.5, and 5 - 3.0's. Todd H. (3.0) also made his tourney debut with a crushing performance and going home with second place. Not too shabby coming off months of elbow and Achilles injuries. As he heals up, he'll be a force to reckon with. On that note - Jim C. (3.5) was playing as a new 3.5 and was feeling the additional weight against opponents he'd normally play even and beat but now had to focus even more. Fletch C. (5.0) cut through me (Bob W. (3.0)) like I was a ball machine. Someone should have advised him not to do that to the tournament director.... there will be consequences. Fletch was bested by Mario de M. (4.5) a few matches later and I like to think that I had something to do with that.
All in all we had a lot of fun! Started a bit late, 6:50 and ended at 8:50. A good bit of fun over 2 hours.
The final bracket
Below is some pics n vid and other highlights of the night.
Remember - 2pm Saturday will be the first ever EvenSquash Team Event. It is free! If you want to play show up before 2 or sign up. More info is here: The Quick and The Dirty
Check the side bar for the latest Squash SMASH Tourney's Winner's Circle and other info about the EvenSquash handicap system and tournaments.
I'll have next week's tourney announcement up in a day or two. Until then, you can always follow along with live updates and latest info on Twitter @EvenSquash, Facebook @EvenSquash, Instagram @EvenSquash. And you can always add your email address (see the left side bar) to get emails about the latest posts.
Just Squash It....
- Bob -
Yoann B. (3.0) (blue shorts) vs. Todd H. (3.0)
Match ball
Roland D. (3.0) (black pants) vs. Mario de M. (4.5)
Jim C. (3.5) (#4 shirt) vs. Jeff D. (3.0)
Jim is wondering why Jeff is already in the corner
After a week long break (vacation in Amsterdam), we are back with this week's tourney.
Sign up for this week's Wednesday night tourney! Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. 1st also gets a $25 Marlow's Tavern Gift Card. If we get more than 8 players, a randomly selected player will get a $50 Sushi Nami Gift Card!
A free, fast and fun team event that requires a bit of strategy, teamwork, and pressure for the individual and the team. In a nutshell - 10 players needed for about an hour: Anjo G. (5.0) and Jeff D. (3.0) have volunteered to be team captains. We already have a bunch of people signed up.... Get your name in the hat - who knows what will happen! This is a test concept of something bigger; think multiple teams from many squash clubs. So if you don't find yourself on a team but wanted to play - don't sweat it. If you want to play, sign up here. Or contact Anjo, Jeff, or myself.
If you do plan to play in this week's tourney, please help me out and reserve a 1-hour block on courts 2, 3, and 4 from 6:30 - 8:30 on www.MyLT.com
I will be live tweeting the tournament with pictures and some match video this week, so if you can't make it, you can follow the action on Twitter @EvenSquash. I will also post a few updates about the tournament on Facebook @EvenSquash and Instagram @EvenSquash
"Up and down the wall" - Bob - For more information about the tourney, check out Weekly Wed. Squash SMASH
