Racquetmen Win Team Nationals

For the Harvard men's squash team, trophies and national honors are nothing new.

But, last weekend, Harvard picked up it one of its sweetest victories, making up for its lone blemish during last year's national-championship campaign.

Playing in the United States Squash and Racket Team Tournament last weekend in Chicago, Harvard's five-man "A" team downed the Mexican national team in the finals to capture first place and avenge last year's second-place finish.

"It was really a lot of fun," senior Jeremy Fraiberg said. "Winning the tournament has been our goal since the day after we lost last year. We worked hard over the holidays to prepare for this."

That hard work certainly paid off.

Last year, Harvard was blanked 5-0 by Mexico in the final round. But last weekend, against virtually an identical squad, the Crimson pulled off three key victories early to take the match and the tournament 3-2.

"I knew we had a stronger team this year. I felt confident that with the strength of our team we could make other teams feel our wrath," Co-Captain George Polsky said. "It's nice to have the work we put in pay off."

Ivies No Match

Harvard opened up the tournament against the Yale "B" team on Friday, January 10, handily defeating the Elis 5-0. Successive blankings of Princeton and Pennsylvania on Saturday set the Crimson up for Sunday's showdown against Mexico.

"We knew if we won those [opening round] matches quickly and decisively, we would be well rested heading into the finals. Last year, we were physically and emotionally exhausted," Fraiberg said.

Team Mexico proved much more competitive than the Ivy teams, but Harvard managed to secure its first three games behind solid performances from Polsky, senior Farokh Pandole and senior Jonny Kaye.

Kaye easily dispatched his opponent 3-0. And Pandole battled back from a 2-0 deficit to win, 3-2.

Polsky's victory turned out to be the tournament-winner. Against a "very crafty" opponent, Polsky captured a grueling 3-2 match before a decidedly hostile crowd.

"It was a small gallery, but it was packed with Mexican fans, so it took on grander proportions. It was like a war of nations," the New York native joked. (Interestingly enough, Polsky was the "A" team's lone U.S.-representative.)

Harvard's two losses came at the number-one and number-two spots.

Number-one Fraiberg lost three tough matches to defending amateur champion Hector Barrigan.

It was the second year in a row that Fraiberg fell to Barrigan. Last year, Barrigan prevailed against Fraiberg in the longest squash game ever recorded (two-and-one-half hours).

Number-two Adrian Ezra also struggled against his opponent, Octavio Montero. After shutting down his Ivy competitors in the tournament, the sophomore dropped three straight against Mexico.

Nevertheless, Ezra's strong performance throughout the tournament was remarkable considering the circumstances.

Ezra had to adjust to both jet lag (he just flew in from India) and to a different style of squash (he just finished capturing the men's Indian national trophy in "softball" squash.)

The Future?

Harvard's victory in Chicago should bode well for the squad. Already stacked with the top talent in the nation, Harvard has its first big match on February 2, when it takes on the Princeton Tigers at home.