Crimson Freshmen Add More Hardware to Team’s Shelf

Tack on another title for Harvard sports.

In a weekend that saw Jesse Jantzen take home the wrestling National Championship, and the men and women’s hockey teams win ECAC championships, the Crimson’s Ilan Oren added another impressive victory to an already extraordinary 48 hours for Harvard sports.

Oren, a freshman, won squash’s U.S. Championships and Skill Levels tournament for ages 16-24 held in Seattle, Wash. Oren clinched the victory by edging out No. 1 seed Imran Khan 3-9, 10-8, 10-8, 9-3 in the finals on Sunday afternoon.

Oren dropped the first game of the match quickly to the higher-seeded Khan, who came in as the favorite and plays professionally. Down one game to none, Oren then fell behind in the second game 7-0, but he wouldn’t fold and battled back to take the game 10-8.

“I had some unforced errors and gave him some points,” said Oren of the first and second games. “But I decided I wasn’t going to give away the match; I was going to win it. I don’t even remember how it got to 7-all [in the second game]. But then I had it and I took it 10-8.”

In the third game, Oren and Khan both played well, trading points to an 8-8 tie. But once again Oren was able to outlast the older Khan and captured the third 10-8. With Khan fatigued, Oren closed out the match 9-3 in the fourth.

“I think the third game just crushed him physically and mentally,” Oren said.

Oren’s march to the finals was relatively easy. In his semifinal match, he was pitted against the No. 2 seed Joe Russell. But Oren dispatched Russell with little difficulty, defeating him 9-3, 9-4, 1-9, 9-5 in a match that Oren controlled throughout.

The quarterfinals went similarly for Oren, as he outmatched the inferior Jonathan DeSouza swiftly 9-3, 9-1, 10-9.

“We’re so used to playing two matches a day that with only one match [each day] and the first matches going quickly it didn’t hurt me being fresh,” Oren said.

Oren made the trip to Seattle along with teammate and fellow freshman Siddharth Suchde. Suchde, who played at the No. 2 spot for the Crimson for most of the year, played well but couldn’t move past the semifinals. In that match, Suchde faced Khan and after winning the first game 9-0 and taking a 3-0 lead in the second, he couldn’t keep the momentum going.

“I was just mentally fatigued,” Suchde said. “It’s been a long season. I felt tired, which is something unusual for me and I kind of just wanted to get it over and get out of there.”

The veteran Khan capitalized on Suchde’s fatigue and won the next three games 9-3, 9-0, 9-5 to advance to the finals where Oren awaited.

In the quarters, Suchde disposed of Trinity graduate Joshua Miller 9-1, 9-0, 9-4.

Oren’s victory and Suchde’s strong showing add to the growing list of accomplishments from this year’s talented freshman class. Oren, Suchde and fellow freshmen Garnett Booth, Mihir Sheth and Jason De Lierre all made significant contributions to the No. 2 ranked Crimson this season. Oren and Suchde solidified the top of the ladder for Harvard this year, while Booth, Sheth and De Lierre spent much of the season competing in the 6-9 slots.

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