ISDA Squash Tour 2012

Tournament Results:

Gould And Pirnak Triumph In Cambridge Club Doubles By Rob Dinerman

     Nov 25 --- First-round losers in their only prior foray into ISDA competition (when Willie Hosey and Mark Chaloner rallied from two-love down in Brooklyn last winter), Ben Gould and Michael Pirnak rose superior to the rest of the six-team field this past weekend in Toronto, where they powered their way through their round-robin bracket and then out-lasted ’07 Cambridge Club finalists Clive Leach and Chris Walker in the Monday-night final by a score of 15-12 15-12 8-15 15-12. It was the third consecutive triumph in this event for Gould, who had prevailed in each of the past two years with his regular ISDA partner Paul Price as his teammate. It was also the fourth runner-up finish in the last five years in this tournament for Leach, who had previously reached that stage with Preston Quick in ’05, with Scott Butcher in ’06 and, as noted, with Walker two years ago.

   Quick had initially been paired with Damien Mudge but was forced to withdraw by a right-shoulder injury incurred while playing court-tennis, and his replacement, Jonny Smith, teamed with Mudge to defeat record seven-time Cambridge Club champion Gary Waite and Jonathon Power. Both of these pairings lost in straight games to Leach (who handily out-played Waite during their cross-court duel in that match) and Walker. Meanwhile, Gould and Pirnak were subduing first Price and Hosey and then Viktor Berg and Josh McDonald. The Walker/Leach and Berg/McDonald duos have won ISDA ranking tournaments in recent years, and Mudge, Hosey, Power, Waite and Price are all former Cambridge Club champions, but on this occasion it was Pirnak (who lost his only prior Cambridge Club final when he and Chaloner were straight-gamed by Waite and Stuart Boswell seven years ago) and Gould who persevered through several tight final-round games en route to their somewhat unexpected but fully deserved victory.