Messages
Both Sent And Received This Week At Harvard’s Murr Center In Possible
Potter Cup Finals Preview By Rob Dinerman Dateline February 12th
--- This past Tuesday afternoon the top-ranked Trinity Bantams traveled
to the Murr Center in Cambridge and fought their way to a riveting and
extremely high-quality 6-3 victory over Harvard in the first meeting
between these two juggernauts since a dominant 9-0 Crimson win in the
same arena 50 weeks ago in the final round of the 2014 Potter Cup that
determined last year’s national champion. In the process, Trinity
College delivered a compelling message of how capable it is of
regaining the title it has won in 14 of the last 16 years (from
1999-2011 and in 2013), while simultaneously RECEIVING
confirmation --- if any had been needed in this season of upsets,
mixed results and zero undefeated teams --- of how challenging and
perils-laden that three-day tournament (which Trinity will be hosting
for the first time ever on February 20-22) will be.
In this week’s clash of historically elite programs (which
between them have won the last 21 Potter Cups dating back to
Princeton’s 1993 title) and distinguished family bloodlines, there were
three five-game matches, in two of which the winning player trailed two
games to one and came within two points of losing. Only two of the
matches were settled in the minimum three games, and in each of them at
least one game went well into overtime. Ten of the 37 overall games
played were resolved by either a tiebreaker (of which there were seven)
or an 11-9 score, and in four of the matches the eventual winner had to
rally after dropping the opening game. The team outcome, and the lock
on the No. 1 seeding in the Potter Cup that it virtually ensured,
wasn’t decided until well into the third and final tier of matches,
when at No. 4 Juan Vargas (whose brother Andres was a stand-out player
on Trinity’s championship teams a few years ago) out-played Bryan Koh
(whose brother Nigel was one of five seniors on Harvard’s 2014
championship team that blew through the Potter Cup, 27 matches to love)
to secure Trinity’s fifth team point.
In the opening round, Omar Allaudin, whose father, Gogi,
had earned a world top-three ranking during the mid-1970’s, split his
first two games with Harvard’s Seif Elienen at No. 9 and fended off
several game-balls against him before winning the third game 17-15 and
closing out the match with an 11-7 fourth. Allaudin’s teammate and
fellow freshman James Evans, trailing Devin McLaughlin (whose brother
Brandon had been co-captain of Harvard’s 2014 squad), two games to one,
surged to victory in the fnal two games at No. 6, while at No. 3
Harvard got on the scoreboard when Bradley Smith won in four over Rick
Penders. In the second tier, Trinity’s Affeeq Ismail handed Harvard
captain Tyler Olsen his first loss of the season by a bare-bones 11-9
fifth-game tally at No. 8 to balance Harvard No. 5 David Ryan’s win,
13-11 in the fourth, over Karan Malik. But, in what was regarded as one
of the “swing” matches of the day, a match that the Crimson felt it
would win and knew that it NEEDED to win, Trinity No. 2 Miled Zarazua,
in one of the best performances of his career, prevailed in three over
the higher-ranked Dylan Murray, taking both the second and third games
in tiebreakers, 12-10 and 16-14.
This gave Trinity a 4-2 edge heading into the final tier
of matches, in which Vargas, buoyed by the way he was able to emerge
victorious from a 14-12 opening game against Koh, surged unimpeded
through the remaining pair of games. His teammate, senior co-captain
Moustafa Hamada, then followed with a solid four-game win at No. 7 over
Matt Roberts, following which Crimson freshman Madhaz Dhinga out-lasted
his Indian compatriot Vrishab Kotian by winning the fourth game 12-10
(saving a match-ball-against in the process) and the fifth 11-6 to
close out the scoring.
Clearly this was a much more competitive dual meet than
the 6-3 score reveals, one that easily could have gone in a number of
different directions, and even could have had a different team outcome,
but for a handful of end-game moments here and there. Next week both
teams definitely could come a-cropper prior to the Sunday final --- the
depth of the field comprising the 2015 Potter Cup is greater than at
any time in this tournament’s history, with at least seven teams being
credible contenders --- but if the two of them wind up facing each
other for all the marbles, it will be fascinating to see what role the
results and effects of this dual meet play on a possible rematch 12
days later, this time with the national championship on the line.
MATCH RESULTS
1. H- Madhaz Dhingra d. Vrishab Kotian, 6-11, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10, 11-6
2. TC- Miled Zarazua d. Dylan Murray, 11-4, 12-10, 16-14
3. H- Bradley Smith d. Rick Penders, 11-8, 6-11, 11-5, 11-7
4. TC- Juan Vargas d. Bryan Koh, 14-12, 11-4, 11-2
5. H- David Ryan d. Karan Malik, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 13-11
6. TC- James Evans d. Devin McLaughlin, 5-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-3
7. TC- Moustafa Hamada d. Matt Roberts, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-3
8. TC- Affeeq Ismail d. Tyler Olson, 11-13, 11-7, 11-8, 3-11, 11-9
9. TC- Omar Allaudin d. Seif Elienen, 11-4, 9-11, 117-15, 11-7 Trinity (Conn.) 6, Harvard 3
