Ian McAvity, 1942-2016, 1970 Canadian National Doubles Champion by Rob Dinerman Dateline March 24th
--- DSR is sad to learn that Ian McAvity, whose late-1960’s partnership
with David Pemberton-Smith culminated in their winning the 1970
Canadian National Doubles Championship, passed away on March 16th in
Toronto at age 73. Born in Montreal, McAvity learned the game as a
youngster at the Montreal Badminton & Squash Club (later renamed
Club Atwater) before moving to Toronto, where he launched a highly
successful business career in the investment field, later writing a
respected industry newsletter and appearing several times on Louis
Rukeyser’s “Wall Street Week” program.
Known for his
scorching forehand power as one of the best right-wall players in the
game during the late-1960’s and early-1970’s, McAvity would often
defiantly position himself well forward of the red line, daring his
opponents to pass him and frequently engaging in rapid-fire cross-court
exchanges. His pace and athleticism were an ideal complement to
the all-around skills and sparkling resume of his seven-years-older
partner David Pemberton-Smith (who had won the Canadian National
Doubles in 1958 with John Smith Chapman and four straight years from
1960-63 with Lorne Main), resulting in a high-octane rivalry against
top American players Sam and Ralph Howe that had a unique twist to it.
In the final of the 1969 U. S. National Doubles in Pittsburgh, McAvity
and Pemberton-Smith were leading the Howe brothers 2-0, 11-6, seemingly
destined to become the first all-Canadian team to win this prestigious
tournament, when suddenly Pemberton-Smith was afflicted by a series of
disabling leg cramps that effectively immobilized him and allowed the
Americans to rally to a five-game win. Eleven months later, however, a
rematch took place in the final of the 1970 Canadian National Doubles
at the Toronto Cricket, Skating & Curling Club. There, in a classic
example of what goes around comes around, the Howe brothers notched the
first two games, only to then be undone when Ralph Howe was similarly
stricken by severe cramps, rendering him helpless to prevent the
Canadians from taking the final three games. It was the second
five-game match of the day for the Pemberton-Smith/McAvity duo, since
that morning they had been pressed to the limit by the formidable Colin
Adair and Peter Martin, who would recover from their narrow setback to
win this tournament in both 1971 and 1972. Reached at his home in
Montreal, Pemberton-Smith, now 80 years old, happily reminisced about
those matches nearly a half-century ago, and concluded, “I remember it
fondly. I am sure that Ian also cherished that memory.”
