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Atlanta, GA • March 17-22, 2003
By Larry Hodges
Monday
Morning Comebacks
Shashin Shodhan shows what he thinks of his close win over Samson Dubina (3,-12,10,-6,7,5). Photo by Larry Hodges ©2003
There was one major no-show - Tahl Leibovitz (2481), the top-seeded player in the qualifier (seeded 11th overall) didn't show up. It was too late to redo the draws, so the players in his group all received defaults.
There were three matches of interest this morning, and all for similar reasons. In each case, a seeded player was down match point to a lower-rated player, but came back.
Courtney Roberts vs. Russell Hamiltion
Russell
Hamilton (L) had Courtney Roberts (R) on the ropes - but Courtney snuck back in.
Photos by Larry Hodges ©2003
This was the really wild one. The two played each other a lot in California, and now play each other a lot at Texas Wesleyon College, and are very familiar with each other's game. Both are big, tall players, and both played were often off the table lobbing. In this match, Hamilton completely dominated the first half, winning the first three games at 8,5,7. In the next game, he had two match points before losing, 12-10. In the fifth, he again had another match point, but couldn't convert. But Roberts kept getting ads, but wasn't converting either. The score went to 12-12, Robert's serve. They had one of the best points of the day - Roberts was lobbing over and over until Hamilton finally dropped one short. Roberts rolled it back, Hamilton loop killed - and Roberts was lobbing again. Finally, Courtney lobbed one back a little lower, and Hamilton smashed it off - 12-13! Roberts promptly loop-killed Hamilton's serve to win the game, 14-12. Roberts later said, "That lobbing point was the point that won the match." Hamilton didn't recover, as Roberts won the next two at 6 & 8 - but not before Hamilton made it to 8-all in the last game. Final scores: -8,-5,-7,10,12,6,8.
Chi-Sun Chui vs. Samson Dubina
Samson
Dubina didn't win the match, despite three match points, but he still was ready
to fight for his next match. Photo by Larry Hodges ©2003
Chui had flown in all the way from Hong Kong, where he works as a stock trader, and with Leibovitz not showing up, he was the top seed in the Qualifier. He had difficulty from the start, having to battle with Jared Lynch (-11,6,-7,3,5,7) before pulling that one out. He then started out with a seemingly easy match against Samson Dubina, winning the first two at 0 (!) and 5. Who would have guessed at that point that he'd be down match point three times in this match? Chi-Sun went up 3-1 in games, but lost games five and six at 10 & 9. In the seventh, the score went to 8-all, Dubina's serve - and he won both to go up 10-8 match point. Chui matched it, winning both points on his serve - but both times having to go through a furious rally. Dubina went up match point again, 11-10, but Chui won the next three and the match, 0,5,-8,6,-10,-9,11.
It was the second disappointment in a row for Dubina, who had lost his first-round match in an also close match, to Shashin Shodhan, 3,-12,10,-6,7,5.
Mark Nordby vs. Casey McLeod
Casey
McLeod had Mark Nordby on the ropes as well, with a match point. Photo by Larry
Hodges ©2003
With the non-appearance of Tahl Leibovitz, Nordby was now seeded second in group one - but with two to advance, the race to advance was wide open, with Lee McCool now the top seed, and Lim Ming Chui also in the mix along with Nordby and McLeod. In this match, Nordby's steady two-winged looping won the first two games, both at 8. However, McLeod, 17, used his more powerful two-winged looping game to dominate the next three games easily. In the sixth, McLeod led 10-9 match point, but couldn't pull it out. In the seventh, it was all Nordby, who wins 8,8,-6,-6,-5,10,2.
2003 USA Team Trials Home Page
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