New Haven, Conn. - Junior Andrew Lee (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) won the clinching match, 3-0, to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 5-4 victory over the Columbia University Lions in the quarterfinal round of the College Squash Association (CSA) National Men's Squash Team Championship (Potter Trophy) Tournament this afternoon at Yale University. No. 3-seeded Trinity, the two-time defending Potter Trophy Champions, improves to 15-2 and will face the No. 2-seeded University of Rochester Yellowjackets in the CSA Semifinals tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Yale. Trinity lost, 6-3, at Rochester for its first loss in two years exactly one month ago. The Potter Trophy Finals are Sunday at 2:45 p.m. at Yale.
With the matches knotted up at 3-3 after the second wave, Trinity sophomore Ziad Sakr (Tanta, Egypt) and Lee earned back-to-back 3-0 decisions to secure Trinity's second 5-4 win over the Lions this season and a 22nd consecutive appearance in the Potter Trophy semifinals. Sakr blanked Columbia junior Robin Mann, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7, in the No. 4 match to make it, 4-3, and Lee swept Rahul Sehrawat, 11-2, 11-7, 12-10, to make the score, 5-3. Columbia's Velavan Senthilkumar downed Trinity sophomore Kush Kumar (Dhampur, India) at the top of the ladder, 3-1, to account for a 5-4 final tally. Trinity had edged the Lions, 5-4, at home on January 8 when Lee eked out a 3-2 win with the score tied at 4-all during the regular season.
Trinity led, 2-1, after the first wave thanks to a quick, 3-0 triumph by senior Nku Patrick (San Fernando, Trinidad) at the bottom of the ladder and a gutty, comeback victory by senior tri-captain Tom De Mulder (Gent, Belgium) at the No. 3 spot. Patrick improved to a team-best 16-0 this winter, while De Mulder rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to take the final three games, 11-9, 11-8, 11-2. Bantam rookie Aly Tolba (Alexandria, Egypt) came through with a 3-0 win in the second wave to the No. 5 spot to offset Lion victories by James Wyatt and Krish Kapur, at No. 2 and No. 8, respectively. Trinity improves to 10-0 all-time against Columbia. The No. 6-seeded Lions drop to 8-6 and will play No. 7-seeded Princeton in the consolation bracket tomorrow.
MATCH RESULTS
1. C- Velavan Senthilkumar d. Kush Kumar, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 11-4
2. C- James Wyatt d. Thoboki Mohohlo, 13-11, 11-9, 11-9
3. TC- Tom De Mulder d. Callan Hall, 7-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-8, 11-2
4. TC- Ziad Sakr d. Robin Mann, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7
5. TC- Aly Tolba d. Carter Robitaille, 13-11, 11-1, 11-6
6. C- Adham Madi d. Aryaman Adik, 10-12, 11-9, 14-12, 11-6
7. TC- Andrew Lee d. Rahul Sehrawat, 11-2, 11-7, 12-10
8. C- Krish Kapur d. Will Curtis, 11-5, 7-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7
9. TC- Nku Patrick d. Arman Jindal, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5
Trinity (Conn.) 5, Columbia 4
