$1500 Stiga "Cary Cup" Open

Cary, NC · March 15, 2003

By Larry Hodges

Finals action between Mark Hazinski (L) and Dan Seemiller. Photo by Larry Hodges ©2003

For some, it was the best of times; for others, it was the worst of times; for everyone, it was the most exhausting of times.

That’s what happens in a format where everyone plays 12-14 matches in one day! A number of the players were on their way down to the USA Team Trials in Atlanta. The Cary Open's many matches were a nice warm-up for the Trials, a six-day process with the qualifier rounds to begin on Monday. 

Tournament Director Mike Babuin told the gathered players at the start that they anticipated the round robins to finish by 6PM – and when 6PM came about, all that was left was the Final! Playing conditions were excellent, with grippy floors, good lighting, Stiga tables and barriers, and individually barriered courts.

110 players played almost continuously all day on 30 tables in this slugfest. 88 of the players started out in 22 groups of 4. All 88 players then advanced to a final round robin of 11 players. Classes A, B, C and D each had two divisions of 11 players (so 22 in each Class), with the winners playing off, and runner-ups playing off for third and fourth. The other 22 players in the tournament played in Class E Singles, with two groups of 11, with crossover matches.

Several top players were not able to make it due to, believe it or now, a sinkhole on Interstate 85! Nigel Christopher (2322), Dennis Brown (2127) and George Cooper (2032), all seeded to be in Class A, all were stuck on I-85 and never made it. Another player seeded for Class A was Mark Nordby (2283), who, experimenting with a new paddle, went down to Matt Chando (1809). Said Mark (who was having the worst of times?), after realizing that he was not going to be in Class A, “This was a dream tournament for me, with all the great matches. Now it’s a nightmare. I’ve never felt so sick.” But Mark did get a consolation – he’d go on to dominate and win Class B.

The tournament had four players who, by their ratings, were a class ahead of the rest of the field: Mark Hazinski (2609), Brian Pace (2538), five-time U.S. Men’s Singles Champion Dan Seemiller (2508) and also-five-time U.S. Men’s Singles Champion Sean O’Neill (2442). Mark, Brian and Dan all made it to the final match to decide who’d win their division and thereby play for the championship. Falling by the wayside was Sean, who lost to the two-winged power-looping Lee McCool (2348) at -9,9,9,8, and John Wetzler (2286), -6,8,9,-7,10. John (big forehand, long pips blocking on the backhand) had Sean 10-8 match point in the fifth, but Sean played two spectacular points to get to deuce. But John followed with two great points of his own to pull it out.

The Final Four: Mark Hazinski (1st), Dan Seemiller (2nd), Brian Pace (3rd), Lee McCool (4th). Photo by Larry Hodges ©2003

Dan Seemiller and Brian Pace met to decide who would advance from Division One into the Open Final. Brian Pace, who is known for his powerful forehand, had been practicing very hard to improve his backhand, and often was playing it almost as powerfully as his forehand. However, Dan’s ball control and forehand attack often tied him up. (Dan, who had been practicing a lot recently, was noticeably looping stronger than in recent years, shades of his peak power-looping years in the 1970s.) Dan led 7-4 and 9-7 in the fifth, but Brian tied it at 9-all, with Brian to serve. Dan forehand flipped Brian’s first serve to Brian’s wide forehand – one of the few times in the match he’d gone that way off the serve – and caught Brian, who weakly spun it into the net. Then, with absolute silence as the crowd watched the final point, Brian planned to serve short to Dan’s backhand – but instead served off the edge of his side of the table, so the ball shot off to the side – a missed serve to end it! Match and on to the Final for Dan Seemiller, -9,4,-7,9,9.

On the other half, Mark Hazinski defeated Lee McCool, Sean O’Neill and John Wetzler, each 3-1, to advance, with McCool coming in second.

Playoff matches were best of seven. In the playoff for third and fourth, Brian Pace defeated McCool, 3,-8,8,6,-6,8. Most – including McCool – thought the match was over when Brian went up 3-1, but McCool was very, very happy to find he was still in it, and pulled out another game before losing. Of crowd-pleasing interest was Brian Pace jumping completely over a barrier, the passageway, and the barrier on the other side of the passageway to fetch a ball! He then did it again on the way back.

The all-Indiana final was between USA Men’s Coach Dan Seemiller, 48, and his student, 17-year-old Mark Hazinski, the U.S.’s top junior player. Dan (who usually uses Sriver sponge, but had switched to the super-fast Bryce for this particular match, feeling he needed more pace on his shots) won the first at 8, but was blitzed the next two games at 3 and 2. As Dan pointed out later, the key point in the match was when he led 9-6 in the fourth – only to lose 14-12. (But Mark, with the serve, had all five ads.) Dan made it to 9-all in the fifth game as well, but Mark won the next two points, the match, the Open, and $500, -8,3,2,12,9. Dan won $350, Brian $250, and Lee $150.

Now, says this writer, who played 13 matches … Let the cramping begin!

Open – Final: Mark Hazinski d. Dan Seemiller, -8,3,2,12,9; 3^rd: Brian Pace d. Lee McCool, 3,-8,8,6,-6,8.

Open Preliminaries

Class B: 1^st Mark Nordby; 2^nd Min Hsu; 3^rd Stephen Aube; 4^th Al Herr.

Class C: 1^st Barry Ratner; 2^nd Tony Provenzano; 3^rd David Sterling; 4^th Lewis Bragg.

Class D: 1^st Art Stewart; 2^nd Charles Williams; 3^rd Alberto Prieto; 4^th Tony Armisto.

Class E: 1^st Sujith Bhoja; 2^nd Dimitri Moundous; 3^rd Ilya Zaverkha; 4^th Tom Manly.