Bulldogs Cruise Past Cornell 9-0 in Opening Round of CSA Championships
Feb. 27, 2004
The No. 3 seed Elis easily bested Cornell in the first round of the CSA Championships, hosted by Yale. The Bulldogs defeated the Big Red 9-0 to move into the semifinal round, where they will play a rematch against No. 2 seed Harvard in an attempt to avenge their regular season loss from two weeks ago.
Six of Yale's nine victories were 3-0 sweeps, with Julian Illingworth, Anshul Manchanda, Nick Chirls, Gavin Cumberbatch, Trevor Rees, and Ryan Byrnes all getting past their opponents without dropping a game. Illingworth dispatched Cornell's No. 1 Matt Serediak 9-5, 9-0, 9-7, while Manchanda was a 9-1, 9-0, 10-8 winner against Ben Bernstein in the No. 3 position.
Yale's other top three player, Josh Schwartz, rebounded from an 8-10 loss in the first game to win the next three by scores of 9-0, 9-3, 9-7 over Will Cheng. Nick Chirls' 9-2, 9-5, 9-2 score gave him the win over Mike Delany, and Avner Geva returned to the Eli lineup after being out with an injury to earn the 10-8, 9-3, 4-9, 10-8 win over Matt Greenberg at No. 5.
The win puts the Bulldogs in the semifinals, where they have a big game against Harvard. Two weeks ago, the Elis lost the Ivy League title to the Cantabs with a 7-2 loss in New Haven in a match where many Elis thought they could have done better. The return of Geva to the lineup should help Yale in tomorrow's match, which will be held at 12:00 noon. The winner will likely face Trinity in the CSA finals.
Yale's Head Squash Coaches Mark and Dave Talbott are joined their parents Polly and Doug '44 at the CSAs
