Harvard Squash: A Team of Giants

Harvard's powerhouse varsity squash team is an odds-on favorite to retain the National Intercollegiate Four-Man Championship, which began Friday at M.I.T. and runs through Sunday. "We're very optimistic," Coach Jack Barnaby said yesterday.

Anil Nayar, the defending Singles Champion and twice Indian National Champion, heads Harvard's star-studded contingent. Nayar is favored to keep his crown, but Pete Martin of McGill University is potential trouble.

Nayar has met Martin four times this year, and beat him three. Their most recent encounter was just three weeks ago at the U.S. Nationals. "I was just a little tired," Nayar explained, and Martin took the singles title. Earlier this season, in the Canadian Nationals, Martin got knocked off before the finals, and Nayar won the title.

The next three Harvard men--Larry Terrell, Jose Gonzalez, and Captain Rick Sterne--have all done battle with Martin. Sophomore Terrell, last year's National Junior Champion, has lost to the the Canadian twice this year, but both matches were heart-breakers. Gonzalez, who took the National Junior Championship his freshman and sophomore years, stopped Martin this year. Former Freshman Intercollegiate Champion Sterne has also beaten Martin.

First Four

Coach Jack Barnaby declared yesterday, "Our first four men are capable of beating any other college player in the United States." With a line-up like that, Harvard probably can't miss in the team competition, and chances are pretty good that one of the Crimson greats will take the individual title.

Nayar, as defending Singles Champion, will be seeded number one in the competition, and Canadian Martin will probably get the second spot. That means that those two won't meet until the final round, if they both survive.

If Nayar has the same great form that he used to beat Martin earlier this year--and he's looked sharp in practice--then he'll hold onto the Singles Championship. But if he's off his game, it would seem to be a matter of how many other Harvard men Martin can overcome. Doing that won't be easy.

With the best team record in season play, Harvard has won the National Intercollegiate Nine-Man Championship for the sixth straight year and the seventh time in the last eight years. The Crimson also mauled its Ivy League competition this year and walked away with its seventh straight Ivy title.