Squash Hosts ISA Championships

This weekend, the squash courts at the Murr Center play host to the NISRA/WISA individual championships.

Squash players from the top schools in the country will square off against one another, determining the best player in the country and the All-America teams. The tournament, which seeds the participants, takes place over the next three days and crowns a champion on Sunday.

Men

The Crimson have a legitimate chance to grab a national championship in individual play. The Harvard men, who fell to Trinity, 6-3, in the team championships two weekends ago, boasts two of the top five seeds in the tournament.

The men's contest is divided into two fields, the Pool Trophy and the Malloy Trophy. The 32 highest-ranked players in the nation compete for the Pool Trophy. Co-captain Deepak Abraham is seeded second and junior Pete Karlen occupies the fifth spot.

Abraham's co-captain, Shonip Ghosh holds the ninth rank, while freshman James Bullock is No. 13 and sophomore Dylan Patterson is No. 18. Grayson Witcher rounds out the Crimson entrants in the Pool Trophy at No. 27.

Despite the seedings, the outcome is far from clear.

"The rankings are pretty accurate," Karlen said. "Still, we'll be pulling for each other. Anyone can take it."

Despite the individual nature of the contest, Karlen stressed a fraternal outlook on the men's draw.

"Sure, it's an individual thing, but I'm rooting for Harvard guys," Karlen said. "We have a great chance to get three guys to the semis, and maybe get five or six All-Americans."

While Coach Satinder Bajwa has worked with each player individually to help exploit unique strengths, one tip is universal.

The key to the tournament will be stamina. The eventual champion is required to play five matches over three short days.

"Winning quickly will make the difference," Karlen said. "You really need to avoid attrition out there. Since there's so much running in so little time, that's hard to do."

In only one scenario would two Crimson players have to face each other in the second round. Patterson would have to take on Abraham if both should advance.

Women

The Crimson women head to the courts tomorrow as both Ivy League and national champions. Nonetheless, no Harvard women is ranked in the top four.

"We have a deep team," said freshman Louisa Hall, ranked in the 5-8 category. "We have done well at every spot."

The women's bracket is set up differently than the men's. There are 64 women competing for the same title, and only the first four seeds are ranked. The additional round means that the victor must win six matches in the same three-day span as the men, making stamina even more important.

Despite its absence from the top four spots, Harvard does have two women in the 5-8 seedings. Joining Hall is junior co-captain Margaret Elias.

"The seedings look good for us," Elias said. "The top 16 are so close that the seedings don't mean as much. Anyone can push to the top."

Co-captain Virginia Brown, juniors Carlin Wing and Colby Hall, and sophomore Ella Witcher comprise the rest of the strong Crimson contingent competing for a title.

"Harvard players have lots of momentum going in," Elias said. "I certainly think there's a little something to prove. We want to show that we have the top players as well as the top team."

Hall, who was able to handle the pressure of playing No. 1 for the national champions while still acclimating herself to life in Weld, feels as though pressure has been released.

"I feel like the focus has been the team all year, and we've succeeded," Hall said. "The pressure is off a little bit. I think if I'm mentally tough, I can do well."

Standing in Hall's way are the best players from the other three premier squash programs in the country. Penn's sophmore phenom Runa Reta is ranked third, Trinity freshman Amina Helal is No. 2, and Princeton junior Julia Beaver looks to defend her title as the top seed.

"Julia is definitely the one people are looking at," Elias said. "She has pulled out some incredible individual wins."

Hall, who has come up short against some of the top-ranked women during the season, feels as though the circumstances are different now that the team season has ended.

"I've played a full year and I don't think I'm so incredibly in awe of them as I was the first time around," Hall said. "They're incredible players, but they all have weaknesses."

Each competitor, like the men, will have to overcome the weakness of poor stamina. A challenging number of matches puts a premium on endurance.

For the Crimson women, however, a victory already confirms what has been proven to be true: they are the best squash players in the country.

An individual championship, in the words of Hall, "is icing on the cake."