Squash: Individual finals give Tigers another shot at top competition

Trinity’s glass-walled squash courts have long been a sight of dismay for the men’s squash team. This year followed a similar plotline, with Princeton dropping a 9-0 match on the road to the No. 1 Bantams. With one weekend left in the year and the men’s and women’s team seasons concluded, Princeton’s squash teams hope to leave Hartford, Conn., on something rare: a high note.

Both squads compete in the College Squash Association Individual Finals this weekend. The Princeton men sent six players to the tournament — four in the A Division and two in the B Division — and the women placed three players in the top bracket and two in the lower bracket.

For the past three years, Trinity No. 1 Baset Chaudhry has reigned supreme over college squash. Chaudhry won the A Division title the last two seasons. After another undefeated run through the college squash ranks this year, Chaudhry once again looked like the clear favorite for a three-peat.

That all changed two weekends ago, in one of the more bizarre individual sporting moments of the year. After clinching the team title for Trinity, Chaudhry yelled in the face and pushed his diminutive opponent — Yale No. 1 Kenneth Chan — back onto the court as he celebrated with his team. The event reached SportsCenter’s Top 10, and in the fallout from the negative media reaction, Chaudhry withdrew from the tournament, opening up the field to a number of competitors.

“It obviously makes the tournament more winnable,” junior No. 2 Dave Letourneau said. “ Baset’s a great player. He was a pretty dominant force in team play this year.”

In Chaudhry’s large absence, Letourneau and freshman No. 1 Todd Harrity have now emerged as two of the tournament favorites.

Though the A Divison is without its standard-bearer of the past three years, that does not make the opening rounds of the tournament any easier.

“I guess the thing is, even with [Chaudhry] out, that’s one out of 32 guys not in the top draw,” Letourneau said. “Everyone has to get through a few tough matches. So it doesn’t really change things for the first day.”

After a rookie campaign that saw him lose to only two players all season, Harrity has the chance to do something that has not been done in college squash since Yasser El-Halaby ’06, a fellow Tiger, accomplished the feat in 2003: win the individual championship as a freshman.

“I don’t feel any pressure really. It’s only my freshman year,” Harrity said. “I’m really happy with how this season has been. This tournament should be the accumulation of all that for me.”

Two sophomores — No. 3 Chris Callis and No. 4 Kelly Shannon — will also play in the A Division. Last year, Callis was named first-team All America and Shannon reached the quarterfinals of the tournament. Junior No. 7 Peter Sopher and sophomore No. 6 David Pena round out the Tigers’ male contingent.

After losing in the quarterfinal round of the Howe Cup, the women’s team’s younger players have a chance to send a message heading into the offseason. Freshman No. 2 Julie Cerullo, who recently defeated the defending individual champion in a dual match, and junior No. 3 Jackie Moss hope to make some noise in the A Division.

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“This is still a really important tournament for us,” Moss said. “We fought really hard last weekend, and this will be a good chance to end out the season on a high note.”

Senior No. 5 Neha Kumar rounds out the Tigers playing in the A Division. Junior No. 7 Nikki Sequeira and sophomore No. 8 Katie Giovinazzo will play in the B Division.