1999 Ektelon 32nd USRA National
Doubles Championships
Presented by Penn Racquet Sports
Merritt Athletic Club/Security
Baltimore Maryland: October 6-10
dailies
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saturday
Finalists Reach Playoffs in Short
Order
All four of the U.S. Team Qualifying Open division teams advanced into today's
final without being stretched into tiebreakers. Straight game wins (and
one-year U.S. Team appointments) went to veteran team members Robin Levine/Kim
Russell and Laura Fenton/Jackie Paraiso in the women's division, and to Adam
Karp/Andy Roberts and Ruben Gonzalez/Mike Guidry on the men's roster. For
Roberts and Guidry, it had been awhile since either of the current touring pros
had qualified for the team via a win on the amateur circuit.
“I was on the team for eight years in a row,” Roberts said. “But I haven’t been on a team in 11 or 12 years though.” Roberts re-gained his amateur status after announcing his retirement from the pro circuit at the U.S. Open in Memphis last year.
Guidry and Gonzalez "high-fived" each other at the news that they had made the team. Guidry, who coached the Chilean National Racquetball Team at the Pan Am Games, now faces the dilemma of playing for one country while coaching another. Today's champions will qualify to represent the United States at the 2000 World Championships.
In today's match-ups, Jackie Paraiso (El Cajon, Calif.) will look to claim her third-straight women’s open title with her new partner Laura Fenton (Lincoln, Neb.), but 1998 silver medalist and top-seeds Kim Russell (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Robin Levine (Sacramento, Calif.) plan to stand in their way on Sunday at 1:15.
For the men, Karp and Roberts - who had never played together prior to the championships - feel that they are fitting together perfectly as a team. “In order to be a good doubles team, you have to have complementary styles, and we are the prefect fit,” Roberts said. “I think the strength of our team is our teamwork. I think you’ll see a real solid performance on Sunday.” Karp and Roberts will meet Mike Guidry (Carrolton, Texas) and Ruben Gonzalez (Staten Island, N.Y.) at 2:30.
friday
Conines Slam into Semifinals
Jeff Conine continued to slam his way through the draws by winning both his
mixed 25+ doubles match, with wife Cindy Doyle Conine, and men’s 30+
doubles match, with long-time friend Steve Lerner (Riverside, Calif.).
Conine started out the day by taking center court along side his wife Cindy, a former-U.S. National Racquetball Team member. Although the two had not played together competitively since the 1995 U.S. National Doubles Championships, where they finished third in the open division, they quickly worked out the kinks in their game.
After falling behind 8-12 in the first game to Mae Chin-Varon (North Hills, Calif.) and Jonathan Dunn (Camarillo, Calif.), the Conines rallied to comeback, and Jeff topped of the game with three-straight aces for the 15-13 win. The second game was not as successful for the two, who lost 15-2 to force the match into a tiebreaker.
The Conines quickly took control of the tiebreaker, and although they fell behind 2-4 early, yet another ace by Jeff began a string of points that led to the 11-5 win.
“This was fun, but it was frustrating as well,” Cindy Conine said. “I used to play at an elite level, so it’s frustrating when I’m missing all these shots. The best part about being here is the people, though.”
Conine didn’t have long to catch his breath between matches before heading into the men’s 30+ quarterfinals against Armando Alonso (Winter Springs, Fla.) and Chris Smith (Orlando, Fla.). Conine and Lerner dominated the high-speed match, which saw plenty of full-force hitting. During the first game, Conine served three aces, one of which left his opponent joking, “I think that was illegal.
It broke the speed limit.” Lerner, who has known his partner since he was nine years old, is happy with their performance thus far. “I knew we could do well, but I wasn’t sure how well Jeff was going to do since he hasn’t played due to the baseball season,” he said. “He’s just such a good athlete. He got his timing back and is right back into it.”
Texas Duos One Step Closer to Re-Match
There seems to plenty of racquetball action in Texas, with five of the eight
top players in the Men's Open hailing from the lone star state. Southpaw Mike
Guidry is the only one to team up with someone from across state lines, by his
first-time pairing with Ruben Gonzalez of Staten Island, New York. The
remaining four Texans have more recent doubles experience, since the foursome
played each other in the finals of the TXRA State Doubles only two weeks ago.
There, Brian Fredenberg and Todd O'Neil defeated Doug Eagle and Drew Kachtik in
a barn-burner, and all four are looking forward to a re-match.
In Mixed Open, Diane Green (also of Texas) and Brian Fredenberg have advanced into their semi-final, and will go up against #2 seeded Cheryl Gudinas and Jimmy Lowe this morning. On the top half of that draw, the brother-sister duo of Jackie and Joey Paraiso will face Ohio's Elaine (Mardas) Albrecht and David Hamilton.
California Dominates Women's Draw
For the women, California is the state of choice for top seeds, with half of
today's players calling it home. Sacramento's Robin Levine and San Diego's
Jackie Paraiso have each picked their partners from out of state, while Lisa
Hjelm and Kari McDonough play as a team from Citrus Heights. In the #1 spot,
Levine plays with Kim Russell of Chattanooga, Tennessee and #2 positioned
Paraiso recently paired with Oregon's Laura Fenton.
Junior Wonders Slip Against Professional Veterans
Junior wonders Matt Gehling and Michael Harmon, who shocked the racquetball
world Thursday night with their upset of four-time national champions Doug
Ganim and Dan Obremski, slipped under the pressure of two professional veterans
in the men's open quarterfinals.
Gehling and Harmon gave seasoned-veterans Mike Guidry and Ruben Gonzalez a scare in the first game as the juniors took an 11-4 lead, but experience won out.
"Ruben started hitting that legendary Z-serve, and it screened out Mike and me. They got back into the game and took the lead," said Gehling, who is a freshman at Anne Arundel Community College. "In typical giant-killer fashion, we came back to tie it at 14-14. I started thinking that this was just like yesterday, and that I had to believe."
Unfortunately for the junior national champions, tonight's match did not turn out as well as yesterday's, as the frustrated juniors fell to the long-time pros 15-14, 15-5.
"They can play and get motivated," Gonzalez said. "It's just going to take a little bit more experience, but I would hate to play them down the road in three years. Even next year those kids are going to be tough." As Gehling and Harmon now look toward the World Junior Championships in December, Gonzalez and Guidry prepare for Brian Fredenberg and Todd O'Neil, who they will meet in Saturday's 3:45 p.m. semifinal match.
Paraiso Proves She Can Win Without Her Twin
Sister
Jackie Paraiso began her journey to a third-consecutive women's open national
title today, but this time without the aid of her twin sister, Joy MacKenzie.
After the twins earned a three-year undefeated streak and two national titles,
MacKenzie retired following her gold medal performance at this summer's Pan
American Games.
Paraiso and her new partner Laura Fenton, who captured the women's singles bronze medal at the Games, put to rest any doubts of the team's potency with their decisive 15-2, 15-2 win over former '84 national champions Diane Green and Julia Pinnell today. The team now looks towards playing their Pan Am Games teammate Cheryl Gudinas, who captured the women's singles gold medal at the Games, and Malia Bailey in Saturday's 2:30 p.m. semifinal match.
thursday
Women’s Open Up for Grabs
Many returning competitors at this year’s championships will notice that
they are not seeing double this year. With the retirement of Joy MacKenzie from
competitive racquetball following the Pan American Games, the sight of the
mirror-image twin-sisters doubles team of Joy and Jackie Paraiso is now a thing
of the past.
After her sister's retirement, Jackie teamed up with one of her Pan Am Games teammates, Laura Fenton, for this year’s championships, leaving Laura with some big shoes to fill. Jackie and Joy’s legacy included three titles (two straight in '97 & '98), so their absence from the draw assures that the women’s open division is no longer a lock.
In fact, a few other former national doubles titlists have thrown their hats into the ring to vie for the title, including 1992 champions Mary Lyons/Susan Pfahler and 1984 winners Diane Green/Julie Pinnell. Green (then Bullard) also won in '1979 with another partner. Other titlists (with a variety of other partners) have been Malia Bailey (in '83, '85, and '88); Fenton in '93 and Cheryl Gudinas in '95 & '96.
“I really think the stand-out team this year is Robin Levine and Kim Russell,” Pan Am Games women’s singles gold-medalist Cheryl Gudinas said. “There is no way that Laura can take the place of Joy, but that doesn’t mean she can’t play as well. Jackie and Joy had such a great chemistry. Laura has her work cut out for her.”
Friday will be the first test of the top women’s open teams as they take to the court to see who can capture the women’s doubles crown that the twins have held for the past two years.
Junior National Champions Upset Four-Time Titlists &
Defending National Champs
Nineteen-year-olds Matt Gehling of Annapolis, Md. and Michael Harmon of
Sarasota, Fla. thought they got lucky in the first round when the pair they
were slated to play forfeited due to illness, advancing them automatically to
the round of 16 against four-time national champions Doug Ganim and Dan
Obremski. The two teen-agers thought their luck was going to run out when they
met the defending national champions, but they were wrong.
In the biggest upset of the championships, Gehling and Harmon, the 1999 junior national doubles champions, knocked off Ganim and Obremski, 15-14, 15-14, to advance to the quarterfinals and send the veterans home after their first round of play.
“I played them last year with another partner, and we were able to score decent points,” said Gehling as he fought to remain composed. “I knew we had a chance. I knew we weren’t going to get blown out, but this is just unbelievable.”
The young pair went down early in the first game, but rallied back to tie the game at 14-14 after Ganim and Obremski were unable to put the match away at 14-13. The youngsters were not going to let this opportunity slip by them, as Gehling’s home-state crowd cheered him and his partner on to the 15-14 win in the first game.
“I was trying not to think about us winning the first game very much in the second. I was just acting like it was the first game again instead of getting over confident,” Harmon said.
After securing a strong lead over Ganim and Obremski in the second game, Gehling and Harmon’s game began to slip, and the veterans took the lead, 14-13. Unable to clinch the game, the junior duo retrieved the serve and tied up the score, but a side out gave the four-time national champions yet another chance to hold on to their hopes of another national title. A second unsuccessful attempt by Ganim and Obremski gave the serve back to the eager young players, who quickly put away their opponents to capture the tremendous win.
“I thought we had a chance, but I didn’t think that we were going to win,” Harmon said. “I just wanted to have a great game, and we did.”
Ganim and Obremski were disappointed with their short-lived bid at a fifth national championship. “We didn’t kill the ball today,” said Ganim, who captured the men’s doubles gold medal at this summer’s Pan American Games with Drew Kachtik (Lewisville, Texas).
“Usually if we don’t kill the ball, our teamwork overcomes, but they just out played us today.” “Tomorrow we are going to be playing two guys who made the top 32 players of the century. Dan was one of the top 32, also, and Doug is one of greatest doubles players ever,” said Gehling, a 1999 graduate of Broadneck High School in Annapolis, Md., who is currently in his freshman year at Anne Arundel Community College. “Mike and I are playing with the greats of the sport. I can’t believe it.”
Conine, Lerner Blast into Quarterfinals
Orioles first-baseman Jeff Conine traded in his bat for a racquet today with
partner Steve Lerner (Riverside, Calif.) in the men’s 30+ division today
against Daron Morrill and Jeff Murphy (Harrisburg, Pa.) after receiving a bye
in Wednesday’s first round.
Although Conine’s racquetball playing time has been limited due to the baseball season, he bounced back into top form as soon as he stepped onto the court.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve played in a tournament,” Conine said. “Your adrenaline gets going and it all comes back pretty quickly.” Conine and Lerner dominated the first game with Conine’s powerful forehand and Lerner’s speed, winning 15-3.
The second game did not come as easy for the duo, which started off the game down 0-5. After struggling their way up to a 5-7 score, the pair scored 10-straight points, including four aces by Conine, to clinch the match.
“I was thinking about toning it down a little bit and saving my arm a little, but I’ve only got one speed to go,” Conine said. “If I’m not hitting it as hard as I can, then my game isn’t very good. So, I just had to turn it up a little bit.” Conine, a two-time All-Star Game player while with the Florida Marlins, attributes racquetball for much of his success in baseball.
“I think racquetball has helped me tremendously in baseball as far as keeping my eyes and hands sharp for seeing 90 mph fast balls,” the 1995 All-Star Game MVP said. “Discipline is a big thing as well. When I was training for nationals and junior nationals, I was going to the club everyday and working out. It’s all on you. If you don’t do it, you’re not going to play as well. I think it’s a good form of discipline.”
Conine and Lerner will meet Armando Alonso (Winter Springs, Fla.) and Chris Smith (Orlando, Fla.) in the quarterfinals at Merritt Athletic Club on Friday at 2:00 p.m. Conine will also begin mixed 25+ division play with his wife Cindy Doyle Conine, a former-U.S. National Team member, at 12:45 p.m. on Friday.
wednesday
Ideally ...
In an ideal world, doubles teams get to practice together before heading into
competition. But then again, who ever said we live in an ideal world?
Definitely not many of the competitors in the men’s open division.
Adam Karp captured the gold medal at the U.S. National Singles Championships and the Pan American Games earlier this year. He’s hoping to continue his golden streak, but there might be one minor set back – he’s never played with his partner, Andy Roberts.
“On paper, it seems to me like we would match up well, but only the tournament will tell,” Adam said. “There are a lot of good players all over this draw, but what is really scaring me is that I don’t know how I play with my partner. If we play well together, I think we will be fine. If not, we are in trouble.”
Adam isn’t the only one to meet up with his doubles partner "on the fly" in the men’s open draw. “Ruben and I played together Monday night for the first time,” remarked Mike Guidry, who is returning to amateur competition after years of playing professional racquetball. “It felt good though.”
Of course, there are always the traditional teams who have played together for years – like Doug Ganim and Dan Obremski, who have shared a long and successful career in men’s open doubles. Even then, one would think that the two have arranged plenty of practice together since winning last year’s title, but once again, this isn’t an ideal world.
“Dan hasn’t played in a tournament since last year’s doubles,” Ganim said. “We’ve played once since that tournament, when he came out to Columbus a few weeks ago.”
So, has anyone in the men’s open draw played together before this week? “Brian and I just won the Texas State Doubles Championships,” Todd O’Neil said. “We had a huge, tough match against Drew Kachtik and Doug Eagle.”
So, maybe a few teams in the men’s open draw have actually played together, but many will be learning the ins and outs of their teammates during the competition. “This tournament will be good practice for whenever we want to play again,” Adam laughed.
Happy Birthdays!
Several competitors will be celebrating this week – whether or not they
win their matches! Birthday "boys and girls" here in Baltimore are:
Wednesday: Renee Kilpatrick; Beth Racine; Stanley Krzymiski; Bill Welaj.
Friday: Tami Evers. Saturday: Brian Herndon; Charles Childers; Dereke Dirks.
Sunday: Ed Barlow; Reno Birt; Kim Cameron; Jay Wisthoff.
Conine A Guest on Sports Line
Baltimore Orioles first-baseman Jeff Conine made a guest appearance on
WBAL-AM’s Sports Line on Tuesday night talking about his ‘other’
favorite sport, racquetball. Jeff, who was the 1995 All-Star Game MVP while he
was playing with the Florida Marlins, will be playing at the Ektelon 32nd U.S.
National Doubles Championships in the men’s 30+ with Steve Lerner and the
mixed 25+ with his wife Cindy Doyle Conine, who is a former-U.S. National Team
member.
Pan Am Reunion
The U.S. Pan American Games Team racked up the medals this summer at the Games
in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, with everyone on the team bringing home a medal
to the U.S. This event marks a near-complete reunion for the team, with all but
one of the players traveling to Baltimore to compete.
The gold-medal winning men’s doubles team of Doug Ganim and Drew Kachtik will return to their on-court rivalry at this championship with Doug’s partner, Dan Obremski, returning to action after tearing his ACL.
The women’s doubles gold medalists, Jackie Paraiso and Joy MacKenzie, will also not be playing together at the championships. Joy retired from competitive racquetball after capturing her second Pan Am Games gold medal, leaving her twin sister Jackie to find a new partner. She didn’t have to look far, opting to team up with Pan Am Games women’s singles bronze medalist Laura Fenton.
Although Adam Karp and Michael Bronfeld were both members of the U.S. team in Winnipeg, they were pitted against each other in the gold-medal match of the Games, where Adam topped Michael. The two will once again be competing against each other, as Michael teams up with Jason Thoerner and Adam with Andy Roberts in the men’s open division.
Cheryl Gudinas shocked everyone at the Games with her miraculous comeback from 10-8 in the gold-medal match tiebreaker with world champion Christie Van Hees of Canada. Cheryl is looking to continue her golden streak by teaming up with Malia Bailey in the women’s open division.