Strong Showings From Underclassmen Leave Crimson Eagerly Looking to 2005

NEW HAVEN, Conn.—For the Harvard men’s squash team, next year can’t come soon enough.

The Crimson (9-2, 6-0 Ivy) was devastated after its 5-4 loss to Trinity (18-0) in the finals at the CSA National Championships—most players were holding back tears as family and friends tried consoling them—but the one thought that had Harvard happy was the thought of next season and a rematch with the Bantams.

“Next year I can’t wait to play these guys and come out stronger than ever and beat them,” said intercollegiate No. 11 and freshman Ilan Oren.

The Crimson will return all but two regular players next year, including the top three players on this year’s ladder. Those top three—intercollegiate No. 5 sophomore Will Broadbent, No. 7 freshman Siddharth Suchde and Oren—went a combined 9-0 in their matches this weekend and provided three of Harvard’s four wins in the championship match against the Bantams.

As he has for much of the season, Broadbent led the charge for the Crimson at No.1. In the marquee matchups on both Saturday and Sunday, Broadbent avenged an earlier loss, beating intercollegiate No.2 Julian Illingworth of Yale in the semis before besting No. 3 Bernardo Samper of Trinity in the finals. And although he was disappointed in the team’s close loss on Sunday, Broadbent let himself imagine what next year’s championships may bring.

“We have a young team so I think we’ll be in this position again for sure next year,” he said, smiling just a little bit. “It’s unfortunate that we didn’t close it out here. But we have next year and we can think about that.”

A great deal of Harvard’s optimism for the future stems from the extraordinary depth of this year’s freshman class. At the top of that class stand Suchde and Oren, both of whom proved this year that they can match up against college squash’s best.

Suchde won the junior Scottish Open in December—a tournament fielding the best 18-and-under players in the world—and cruised to a 3-1 upset victory over No. 6 Michael Ferreira against Trinity. Oren, who played at the No.1 spot earlier in the season while Broadbent and Suchde were injured, provided the most shocking upset of the day when he beat No. 8 Reggie Schonborn in three straight games.

“Sid and Ilan have both played at the top-level before college,” said intercollegiate No. 39 co-captain Ziggy Whitman. “Those guys, it’s scary that they’re freshmen.”

But the freshmen talent goes beyond Suchde and Oren. Intercollegiate No. 52 Garnett Booth and No. 47 Jason Delierre both saw significant action for the Crimson this year, and both battled valiantly against higher ranked opponents in the finals before dropping their matches 3-2 and 3-1 respectively.

One guy who will not be back next year is Whitman, who along with Intercollegiate No. 18 co-captain James Bullock played in their final team competition on Sunday. But even though he won’t be a part of it, Whitman is excited about what next year could bring for Harvard squash.

“Unfortunately I won’t be here for it,” he said. “But we’re going to be dangerous next year.”

—Staff writer David H. Stearns can be reached at stearns@fas.harvard.edu.