Certainly he has the experience and yes, he has great hands and of course he has the unruffled temperament but…can anyone play 14 games in three matches against top notch competition in a little over 8 hours and survive…much less, win? And we’re not talking about the paragon of fitness and training either. We are, though, recognizing the fact that Doug Lifford pulled off one of the great feats in the annals of the Mass State Doubles when he won all three of those final matches at the age of 51.
It started tamely enough in the debut of the Century division. This event – the combined age of both partners must equal 100 – was added to the States reflecting the success of the national event and the attraction of unusual team make-ups, i.e. a 72-year-old partnering a 28-year-old. The more likely combination of roughly equal ages characterized Doug (51) and partner Scott Poirier (53) who were unseeded but moved to the finals with a shut out of Amrit Kanwal (52) & Bobby Harkins (51), then an impressive four game semi-final conquest of second seeded Charlie Humber (44) & Andrew Slater (56) who had defeated John Brazilian (72) & Steve Wetherill (28) in the previous round.
First seeded Sandy Tierney (64) & Pat Malloy (36) in the top half of the draw encountered little resistance from Bob Frazier (55) & Peter Goodall (59), then Rob Dewees (68) & Josh Horwitz (46) to arrive in the semis. Tom Poor (74) & Will Hartigan (28) also arrived with little difficulty, setting the stage for an intriguing showdown. It was not to be. The folly of youth appeared – Will had not read the oft-repeated statement that all the finals would be played on a set Monday night and had scheduled a family vacation for that date, necessitating a default. In the final, Scott & Doug seemed in good shape, winning the first two as Sandy misfired on several reverses. That changed in the next two games, bringing the fifth where Scott was solid, earning the victory in 1 ½ hours.
Four hours later, Doug and partner Amrit Kanwal took the court for the finals of the 50’s. Eleven teams entered this draw but absent were the five-time defending champions Andrew Slater & Greg Zaff. Greg was sidelined, perhaps permanently, by a collapse of his replaced hip, and his full recovery is uncertain. No one, however, underestimates Andrew and that faith was rewarded when he cajoled Sandy Tierney to be his partner. As first seed they won in three over Joe Cortes & Scott Beebe, then Tom Poor & Bobby Harkins who had defeated Mac Davidson & Court Chilton in a tight five game quarter-final. Doug & Amrit in the lower half pulled out a spectacular semi-final victory over second seeded Chris Spahr & Scott Poirier, dropping the first two games, then taking the last three with Amrit holding steady on the right and Doug making winners from the left. The finals was much the same pattern but more decisively so as Doug & Amrit won in four surprisingly easy games, the last at 3.
Not even two hours passed before Doug was once again on court for the finals of the B+ division. The second year of this event featured 27 teams, virtually all of whom were pretty evenly matched judging from the number of five game scores. Doug & partner Bobby Harkins were not close to being seeded, thrown into the middle of the draw’s upper half. In their first match against Mark Froot & Frank Cohen, conquerors of John Brazilian & Michael Wang in five, they were down 2-1 before recovering to win in five. A similar pattern emerged in the quarters against the Kardon twins, Max & Elliot, winners in four over 4th seeded David Hall & Josh Horwitz. Surviving the twins, Doug & Bobby had an easier time in the semis against top seeded Jesse Lane & Nabil Uddin, winning in three.
In the lower half, 3rd seeded Poirier & Fernanda Rocha had to default with the latter’s arm trouble. Liam McClintock & Chris McNeil then met Alli Rubin & Brandon McLaughlin in the quarters. Brandon’s a former Harvard captain but plays the left wall, forcing Alli to her more unfamiliar right side. Hammered at 5 in the first game, Alli tightened up enough to secure the match in four. The buzz, however, was the teen-age team of Joey Lantos & Jacob Koeppel. Starting in the round of 32, they reached the semi-finals by defeating more highly regarded teams – Woody Rich & Glenn Prichett, JP Morais & Amrit Kanwal, 2nd seeded Adam Brinch & Greg Vernick – in each match going down 2-1, then recovering in the last two games to win each time in five. That formula ended against Alli & Brandon as Brandon had too many shots beyond the youngsters’ speed. The finals was another classic. Doug & Bobby won the first two games only to drop the next two at 10. After 1 ½ hours, it looked safe at 14-9. It wasn’t. Brandon went to work, Alli made no mistakes to close to 14-all, at which point an exhausted Bobby looked at Doug and said, “You need to win this point.” He did and a legend was made.
The Open borders on a professional event in terms of difficulty. Entered among the 23 teams were professionals, national champions, outstanding college players/alumni and a few regular players who wanted to see how it felt to be hammered. In the opening round of 32, JP Morais & Amrit Kanwal, Joe Cortes & Marwan Mahmoud and Wendell Chestnut & Jamie Fagan received exactly that in defeat. Of note, however, was the four game victory of Gavan Hitchenor, newly arrived Harvard Club professional, & Robby Berner over well regarded UBC’s Thad Roberts & Ryan Thompson. The next round began with Jesse Lane & Peter McIntire, convincing winners of last year’s B+ event, being smoked in three by Julian Kirby & Ryan Mullaney. Doug Lifford, in his fourth draw, & Max Montgelas went down in five to Will Ahmed & Brandon McLaughlin as did the Hitchenor-Berner duo to 2007 &
2008 champions Sandy Tierney & Pat Malloy. The draw’s biggest upset was the loss of Graham Bassett & Jon Hyett, titlists in 2016, to Greg Crane & Scott Poirier in five, marking the emergence of Greg as a left-handed shot maker. Lastly, at the bottom of the draw, 2nd seeded Charlie Humber & Will Hartigan escaped with their lives, 15-13 in the fifth over Alex Ingham & David Tedeschi from the Tennis & Racquet Club.
John Roberts, champion in 4 of the last 5 years, took a new partner this year in Hameed Ahmed, assistant coach of the Harvard varsity men’s and women’s teams. John recently left the Harvard Club to join the faculty at Phillips Andover and run the squash pro- gram at the school’s new gymnasium. With their duties, these two did not have much practice, but they began their quest with a four game win over Kirby & Mullaney. Will Ahmed & McLaughlin slipped by Tierney & Malloy in five, marking Sandy’s third loss of the day which happens very rarely to this U.S. and Canadian national champion. Crane & Poirier continued their march with a four game de- feat of the Kardon twins while Humber & Hartigan had an easier time over Timmy Brownell, Harvard’s #2 and Justin Singh, the assistant professional at the University Club.
Hartigan defaulted once again as he had in the Century, moving Crane & Poirier to the finals. Ahmed & Roberts battled Ahmed & McLaughlin in the other semi with the former finally winning in the fifth. With that momentum, they overwhelmed Greg & Scott in a three game final, delivering a fifth title to John Roberts.
It just wasn’t Sandy Tierney’s year. Defending champion in the 60’s with Joe Duffey, they were seeded first in the draw of nine teams. Alas, Sandy and their first round opponents arrived on time for the match but no Joe. A half hour later, Sandy called his partner who had mistakenly marked his calendar for the following day. Unable to reschedule, Sandy & Joe defaulted. Six time champions John Brazilian & Lenny Bernheimer, down 2-0, survived in five over John Frantzis & Len Zide, then in three over Bob Bennett & David McGuire to reach the finals. Below, Court Chilton & Pete Bostwick from Long Island handled Tom Poor & Rob Dinerman in four, then won surprisingly easily in three over 2nd seeded Ben Thorndike & Malcolm Davidson. Bostwick was a force in the final over Lenny & John, leading to a three game victory and a huge smile from Court.
Remember Alli Rubin? Tough luck loser in the B+? She and Caroline Spahr set forth in the Womens to reclaim the title they won in 2016, then surrendered last year to Fernanda & Ellie Gozigian. They were seeded second to the top ranked Harvard duo of Kayley Leonard & Sabrina Sobhy. Kayley also plays with great success on the professional Womens doubles circuit and Sabrina – well we’ve all heard a lot of that family name around the club. They had little trouble reaching the finals with three game wins over Liz Bride & Bry Roskoz, then Hope Crosier & Serena Fagan. Alli & Caroline also reached the finals with three game conquests of Ali Bragg & Nessrine Ariffin, then Corey Schafer & Jeannie Blasberg. The latter had gone a close five the match before with the Belknap sisters, Lee & Mary McKee. After a first game loss in the final, the Harvard pair stepped up the pace and won the last three games going away.
Shades of Tierney. Alli stepped into her third draw in the 21-team Mixed. This one was brutal, headlined by 2-time and defending champions Fernanda & Graham Bassett and several other top notch teams. The top seeds reached the semis easily, including a whitewash in the quarters of Serena Fagan & Ryan Mullaney. Sabrina Sobhy & Julian Kirby also made the semis easily. At that point, Fernanda & Graham turned the game up several notches, winning three games in single figures.
The bottom half proved more difficult. In the quarters Caroline Spahr and dad Chris met Kayley Leonard & Jon Hyett, winners over Hope Crosier & Gavan Hitchenor in four. Kayley again dominated the show, scoring often with singles-style drop shots. Be- low, the aforementioned Alli & Brandon McLaughlin won a tight four-game struggle over Jeannie Blasberg & Dave Hall, then met 2016 champions Amanda Sobhy & Pat Malloy. Amanda is a wizard in this game, not unexpected from the #6 singles player in the world. Her partner scampers around the court with the best of them and together they are formidable. Alli & Brandon went down in three – now she’s 0 for 3. Then, another thunderbolt struck when Amanda informed Pat that she too could not be in Boston for the finals, needing to be in London for the start of the British Open. Hard to believe a stuffy old singles tournament would take precedence over the States! That default put Kaley & Jon in the finals which turned out to a great match. Down 2-1, Jon blasted a 14-all point past Fernanda to win the fourth, but that turned out to be the last gasp as they dropped the fifth at 7 to the defending champions.
Speaking of blasts, plenty were on exhibit in the Siblings from the Koeppel brothers, Jacob & Cole. They were winners in 2016 & 2016 but were eliminated last year in the semis by Brad & Chip Robie, 15-14 in the fifth game. The Robies in turn were losers in the final to the Kardon twins, Max & Elliot who were deservedly seeded first this year. They advanced again to the final with a semi-final victory over the Robies, this time Brad & Jay (Chip moved to New York). In addition to the Koeppels, many up and coming juniors populated this draw – Quinton & Prescott Crawford, Oliver & Caroline Eielson (national GU13 champion) and Katerina & Nick Cummings. Each year these juniors grow bigger and faster and none more so than the Koeppels. Attending Noble & Greenough, both are accomplished singles players and can continuously hammer away on the doubles court, particularly Cole who can also fire 88 mph fastballs for the Nobles baseball team. However, they can also rattle the tin and did so often enough to go to the fifth in their semi against Conor & Liam McClintock before winning the last game at 10. The final against the Kardons was more of the same, eliciting anguished head shakes from Stacy & Seth on the one hand and from Kara Kardon on the other.
The match ended in favor of the Koeppels with Cole’s cross court whizzer in the fourth game.
Jacob and the Juniors were also major factors in the B event, the largest draw of the tournament with 39 teams. This time he paired with Nick Cummings, a youngster whose golf prowess will probably send him to a southern clime for his college years. At the moment his squash is equally good, and they reached the finals with wins over Joey Lantos & Jack Winston, also schoolboys who had knocked off second seeded Matt Bryson & Zach Harvey in the opening round, then Tyler Hinckley (architect of the new Andover complex) & Jim Patteson from Marblehead in five tight games and finally JP Morais & Len Zide in another five game tussle. JP & Len had survived a strong challenge from Alex Kohlberg & Tom O’Rourke who had scored a major upset over 3rd seeded Matt Silver & Nabil Uddin.
The top half featured top seeded Rob Dewees & Josh Horwitz. Rob won the inaugural B draw 42 years ago in 1977 with Sandy Bradbury, again in 2002 with Joe Cortes and once more in 2004 with John Palfrey – and he was seeded 1st this year! And they coasted through four rounds of the tournament this year with the loss of only a single game! 4th seeded Ben Thorndike & Ian Walker were excused in the round of 16 by Dicken Chaplin & Chris McNeil who in turn fell to singles players Mac Caplan & Ben Will- Werth. The latter pair had no answers for Rob & Josh in the semis, but there the music stopped as age faced youth in the persons of Nick & Jacob. Their speed and pace could not be stopped in a three game win for the juniors.
The junior wave continued on in the C’s, the second largest draw with 35 teams. Seeding this event is always a guess, proven in spades in the first round (32) when 1st seeded Mac Caplan & Alex Ginman from Cross Courts were tossed aside by complete unknowns Stan Berenshtein & Sam Livingston. The latter, acquainted by a common tie to the Marblehead YMCA, then proceeded to march straight to the finals with the aid of a 15-14 fifth game win in the quarters over Aaron Beitman & Spencer Platt, then a default from Lori & Matt Silver in the semis when Matt broke his hand in a practice match the day before.
The march of the juniors in the lower half was impressive and not unexpected once the assembled saw the destruction of the 2nd seed Matt Burns & Josh Grodin at the hands of Nick Cummings & Joey Lantos. That victory was in three straight as was every match thereafter. Nick’s golf prowess was noted earlier; Joey attends Brookline High with no squash program but has come up through the junior singles ranks to reach the #4 BU17 State ranking this season. They both are enthusiastic doubles players but onlookers thought their string might end in the semis at the hands of 2006 champions and former hockey players Mike McKee & Neil Paterson. Body checks did not happen, and the boys rolled in three straight, then three more easy ones in the finals.
In addition to the rise of juniors, the ranks of women players are swelling with the encouragement of Fernanda, resulting in the initiation of the Womens B division with a full draw of 16. Glynis Gozigian & Lori Silver, seeded second to Liz Bride & Kinsey Kornack, moved into the finals with a solid semi-final win over Jothie Karthigesan & Pam Larson. Liz & Kinsey did the same in the other semi over Kara Kardon (playing under the judgmental stares of her twin sons) & June Mattioli. The seeds held up in the final as Liz & Kinsey faltered in the first game, then cut down on their errors in the next three to capture their first title. Despite the loss we all hope Glynis will remain in Boston to keep improving her doubles – the fly in the ointment is her husband Kurt’s surgery practice at Stanford. Just means he’ll have to keep making week-end trips back to Boston!
Juniors factored once again in the Parent-Child. Seeds didn’t matter, probably because juniors weren’t involved. Nonetheless, 1st seeded Erik & Julian Kirby had to withdraw when Erik found he could not be present for the finals. Former winners and 2nd seeded Morgan & Tom Poor were dismissed early by David & Ron Rubin after narrowly surviving a round of 16 match against Quinton & Chris Crawford. Replacing the Kirby in the upper half, Max & Kara Kardon squeezed by Serena & Jamie Fagan in five to reach the final. The Rubins continued their not so unusual formation – Ron anchored himself in the left rear, leaving David to cover 15/16ths of the court – once again against a similar formation of Dave and son Greg Crane in the semis. That worked for the Rubins in three games as did the same in the final.
The 2018 State Doubles had 251 players, the largest ever, comprising 238 teams. The tournament is now perhaps the largest national doubles event of the season. The addition of two new divisions this year and the increasing presence of juniors, women and more club members from places like Marblehead, Cross Courts and the Union Boat Club is both a testament to the attraction of the doubles game and the foundation for even larger tournaments and play in the future.
Written by Tom Poor
Full draws, pictures and past champions are on the Mass Squash website.
50+ Doubles: Champions – Doug Lifford & Amrit Kanwal; Finalists – Sandy Tierney & Andrew Slater
Century Doubles: Finalists – Pat Malloy & Sandy Tierney; Champions – Scott Poirier & Doug Lifford
B+ Doubles: Finalists – Brandon McLaughlin & Alli Rubin; Champions – Bobby Harkins & Doug Lifford
60+ Doubles: Champions – Court Chilton & Peter Bostwick; Finalists – Lenny Bernheimer & John Brazilian
C Doubles: Finalists – Sam Livingston & Stan Berenshtein; Champions – Nick Cummings & Joey Lantos
B Doubles: Finalists – Rob Dewees & Josh Horwitz; Champions – Nick Cummings & Jacob Koeppel
Mixed Doubles: Champions – Graham Bassett & Fernanda Rocha; Finalists – Kayley Leonard & Jon Hyett
Siblings Doubles: Finalists – Max & Elliot Kardon; Champions – Jacob & Cole Koeppel
Open Doubles: Champions – Hameed Ahmed & John Roberts; Finalists – Greg Crane & Scott Poirier
Parent-Child Doubles: Finalists – Max & Kara Kardon; Champions – Ron & David Rubin
Womens B Doubles: Finalists – Glynis Gozigian & Lori Silver; Champions – Liz Bride & Kinsey Kornack
Womens Doubles: Champions – Sabrina Sobhy & Kayley Leonard; Finalists – Caroline Spahr & Alli Rubin