By Larry Hodges
Group 1
Benny Kuchero d. Chris Lehman, -8,3,7,9,5
John Beaumont d. Dayanand Maharaj, 3,8,11,11
Jiachen Wang - bye
Group 2
Misha Kazantsev d. Richard Bowling, 2,7,6,4
Courtney Roberts d. Larry Bavly, 10,9,-4,-9,7,3
De Tran - bye
Group 3
Ashoo Jain d. Mark Nordby, 9,5,15,6
Tahl Leibovitz d. Shua Jafar Ali, 10,9,5,6
Group 4
Brian Pace d. Rich Burnside, 4,-8,6,5,5
Auria Malek d. Nison Aronov, 10,10,8,-8,3
There were two upsets this round. In group four, Auria Malek (17, rated 2197), upset Nison Aronov (2438), 10,10,8,-8,3. Up 3-0, Auria led 5-1 in the fourth - but said he let up, and lost that game. In the fifth, he again led 5-1, and this time didn't let up. "I had to move him in and out," said Auria of the full-court play of Nison, considered by many the best lobber in the U.S. The other upset was close-to-the-table forehand power-looper John Beaumont (2148) over Dayanand Maharaj (2299), 3,8,11,11, in group one. (The 2148 rating is from the Nov. 1 ratings used for the Trials; in up-to-date ratings, John is 2299.) John has a nice backhand serve that he usually serves short to the forehand or middle, which he usually follows with a forehand loop.
Group One
Dayanand Majaraj d. Chris Lehman, -7,5,2,7,9
John Beaumont d. Jiachen Wang, -5,9,10,9,-10,4
Benny Kuchero - bye
Once again it was John Beaumont pulling off an upset, this time over the top seed in the Qualifer, Jiachen "David" Wang, -5,9,10,9,-10,4. John's loops are penetrating, and when David would loop, John would counterloop off the bounce, over and over. John's strength is his short backhand serve and forehand follow, and his off-the-bounce counterloop, but when asked what his best weapon was today, he said, "Having a strong mental attitude." With this win, John is now 2-0, and is looking to be a likely advancer in this group of five.
Group Two
De Tran d. Larry Bavly, 5,6,7,4
Courtney Roberts d. Richard Bowling, 2,3,6,4
Misha Kazantsev - bye
There were no upsets this round in this group of five. Courtney Roberts is now 2-0, while De Tran and Misha Kazantsev are both 1-0.
Group Three
Ashoo Jain d. Tahl Leibovitz, 6,4,-9,8,4
Shuja Jafar Ali d. Mark Nordby, -9,-10,4,12,-12,6,3
Ashu Jain, 2-0, will advance unless he were to come in last in a three-way tie. (The three-way tie can happen only if, in the final round, Ashu loses to Shuja Jafar Ali, and Mark Nordby defeats Tahl Leibovitz.) Tahl and Shuja are both 1-1, but Tahl has the head-to-head win if both win in the final round.
In a match-up of long pips on the backhand players, Shuja defeated Mark (who just recently went to long pips) in the only seven-game match so far.
Group Four
Brian Pace d. Nison Aronov, 2,7,-1,-8,10,10
Auria Malek d. Rich Burnside, 10,-7,5,6,4
With his win over Rich Burnside, Auria Malek (seeded 4th in his group), and Brian Pace (the top seed in the group), both 2-0, clinched finishing advancing out of Group 4. They will play each other next round for 1st and 2nd (which affects seeding in the single elimination stage).
Group 1
Jiachen Wang d. Dayanand Maharaj, 5,3,4,5
John Beaumont d. Benny Kuchero, 9,-9,9,9,-9,10
Chris Lehman - bye
John completed his "hat trick," going 3-0 with his win over Benny and will advance. Jiachen "David" Wang is now 2-1, while Benny is 1-1.
Group 2
De Tran d. Courtney Roberts, -8,6,7,8,-9,8
Misha Kazantsev d. Larry Bavly, 8,9,6,-7,9
Richard Bowling - bye
De and Misha both went to 2-0, but there are two more rounds to go. It's looking like a battle of these two and Courtney, but De has the win over Courtney this round.
Group 3
Ashoo Jain d. Shuja Jafar Ali, 8,2,4,-7,10
Tahl Leibovitz d. Mark Nordby, 0,6,3,-9,8
With their respective wins, Ashoo Jain and Tahl Leibovitz both advance in first and second, respectively.
Group 4
Brian Pace d. Auria Malek, -11,5,-4,6,8,11
Rich Burnside d. Nison Aronov, def.
Brian Pace and Auria Malek advance in first and second, respectively. Nison Aronov, who said he wasn't feeling well (fever, and somewhat scarily, what he described as chest pains), defaulted to Rich Burnside. It wasn't a meaningful match, however, as neither could advance at that point.
(Note - groups 3 and 4 have only four players, and so those groups are now done.)
Group 1
Jiachen Wang d. Benny Kuchero, 4,5,-10,6,7
John Beaumont d. Chris Lehman, -6,3,4,-9,-14,7,10
Dayanand Maharaj - bye
John Beaumont clinched his spot with a 4-0 record - but just barely. In only the second seven-gamer of the qualifier, he was down 5-9 in the seventh to Chris Lehman (#5 in the group) - but then scored five in a row to go up 10-9 match point. Chris deuced it with a net-dribbler, and had a serve & smash to get the ad - but missed. John serve & slow looped, catching an already-at-the-barriers Chris who had to lob it up; when John then soft rolled the lob instead of smashing, Chris was again too far back and couldn't return it.
Jiachen clinched the second spot with his win over Benny, and so will come in second. (If he loses his final match with Chris Lehman, and Dayanand defeats Benny in his, then Jiachen and Dayanand will both be 2-2 but Jiachen won head-to-head.
Group 2
Misha Kazantsev d. De Tran, 9,8,5,10
Larry Bavly d. Richard Bowling, -8,3,8,7,-6,8
Courtney Roberts - bye
Misha defeated De Tran in the biggest match this round, dominating with his forehand in winning 9,8,5,10. De's serves, especially his forehand serve, kept going slightly long, and Misha would loop them, and keep looping until the point was over. In the fourth, De served more backhand to keep the ball short, and after falling behind 0-4, tied it at 7-7, and led 10-9. But a Misha loop deuced it. At 10-10, De's serve got away from him again, Misha looped, and soon the match was over. Misha has clinched a spot in the top two.
Misha is now 3-0, while De and Courtney are both 2-1. If, in the final round, Courtney defeats Misha, and De defeats Richard Bowling, the three would be tied at 3-1. No matter what the game score between Misha and Courtney, however, De cannot advance in a three-way tie. So, assuming De (2472) defeats Richard (1979), then if Courtney defeats Misha, then Courtney and Misha advance; if Misha defeats Courtney, then Misha and De advance.
Group 1
Jiachen Wang d. Chris Lehman, 6,3,-10,12,5
Benny Kucharo d. Dayanand Maharaj, 3,8,9,-8,6
John Beaumont - bye
There was little drama as the group's final order was already clinched the round before - 1st John, 2nd Jiachen.
Group 2
De Tran d. Richard Bowling, 8,9,9,8
Courtney Roberts d. Misha Kazantsev, 3,-10,12,-3,-11,10,5
Larry Bavly - bye
De's match with Richard ended as Courtney-Misha were about to start the third - and so this latter match became the "drama" match of the day. Misha was going to advance either way, and he only needed to win one game to come in first. If Courtney wins, he advances; if Courtney loses, De Tran advances.
The scores DON'T show what happened. In the first, Courtney led 10-7 - but Misha won five in a row. In the third, Misha Led 10-7 (and 11-10), but Courtney won 14-12. In the fifth, Courtney led 10-9 and 11-10, but Misha won - twice ripping in Courtney's serve for winners at deuce. And in the sixth, Courtney led 10-7 - but Misha deuced it. (But serve & looped off, and looped a serve off.) The seventh was all Courtney, whose control game forced error after error from Misha. "I had to slow things down, and keep changing pace," Courtney said of the match.
The draw for Wednesday's playoffs is as follows. It is single elimination, played to the final, with the two finalists advancing to the Final 12. The two losing semifinalists will play off for the final spot.
|
John Beaumont |
vs. | Tahl Lebovitz |
| Courtney Roberts | vs. | Brian Pace |
| Ashoo Jain | vs. | Auria Malek |
| Jianchen Wang | vs. | Misha Kazantsev |
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