Hyder Trophy 2003
16-18 May, New York, USA, $5k

RAZIK AND WEE CAPTURE
HYDER TROPHIES
Canada's top seed Shahier Razik captured the men's Hyder Trophy in New York, beating second seeded Peter Genever in the final, while Malaysia's Sharon Wee claimed the women's title, beating eigth-seeded Alison Waters in the final.

The longest continually running softball tournament in North America founded by Dr. Quinten Hyder in 1969 continued in style in 2003. With Dr. Hyder on hand taking in the weekend action, the tournament saw 139 amateurs and 32 professionals compete at various clubs around the city.

Headlining this year’s event was the CJSquash.com WISPA tournament draw of 16 that was played alongside the draw of 16 male professionals. Tournament headquarters were at The Sports Club/LA, where the pro draws were played, along with the top amateur draws and all main draw finals. Other clubs hosting earlier rounds were the Harvard Club, the Princeton Club and the Yale club.

• Draws & Results
   

• Reports 

Julian Wellings

15-7, 12-15, 15-10, 15-6

Peter Genever

Peter Genever

Alison Waters

9-0, 5-9, 9-7, 9-2

Sharon Wee

Kenny Schwer reports from New York

The longest continually running softball tournament in North America founded by Dr. Quinten Hyder in 1969 continued in style in 2003. With Dr. Hyder on hand taking in the weekend action, the tournament saw 139 amateurs and 32 professionals compete at various clubs around the city. Headlining this year’s event was the CJSquash.com WISPA tournament draw of 16 that was played alongside the draw of 16 male professionals. Tournament headquarters were at The Sports Club/LA, where the pro draws were played, along with the top amateur draws and all main draw finals. Other clubs hosting earlier rounds were the Harvard Club, the Princeton Club and the Yale club.

The withdrawal of Jenny Tranfield due to illness meant Sharon Wee became the number one seed, and American Latasha Khan moved up to the second seed spot. The final saw Sharon Wee face number eight seed Alison Waters. Wee’s power and dominance prevailed as she won the inaugural WISPA event 3-1.

In the men’s pro draw, the top four seeds prevailed throughout the event. The semi finals between Shahier Razik and Julian Wellings, and Victor Berg and Peter Genever saw the audience sit in awe of the athleticism and skills of each player. The final between Razik and Genever resulted in Razik lifting the trophy after a four game battle.

The amateur draws featured an invitational 6.0 draw where Harvard alumni, Daniel Ezra, was seeded to meet Trinity alumni Marcus Cowie in the final. Dartmouth alumni Beau River had another agenda though and beat Ezra in the semi-final before beating Marcus Cowie in three in the final.

Adam Walker from Greenwich, CT, (brother of Damian Walker) was dominant in the men’s 5.5 as he was victorious over local New York players. Initially taking on junior Tommy Wolfe in the quarter-final, Walker went on to meet Yale alumni Charles Goodwin in the semi-final and Michael Scherl from New Jersey in the final.

The men’s 5.0 saw four local New York players reach the semi-final. In the top half of the draw, number four seed Nick Monogenis, from NYSC was victorious over number one seed Peter Blatchford, from Brooklyn in the semi-final. In the bottom half of the draw, Yale alumni Nik Bhandare, number two seed, beat Steven Pierson from Brooklyn to set up a meeting with Monogenis. The final was a battle that saw Monogenis clinch a 9-7 victory in the fifth game.

In a similar vein the final of the men’s 4.5 and men’s 4.0 were five game battles. The men’s 4.5 final saw the number one seed Attila Agh from New Jersey beat number two seed Eric Drier from Long Island. Fighting back to two games all, tiredness seemed to take hold of Drier allowing Agh to take the final game 9-1. In the men’s 4.0, the two finalists were both from Brooklyn. Jesus Manzenda from the Eastern Athletic Club managed to take a 2-0 lead over Ben Pierson from Cobble Hill before the game scores leveled at 2-2. The final game went the full distance with Ben Pierson claiming victory with a game score of 10-9.

The men’s 3.5 and men’s D also featured some hard fought battles throughout the draw. In the top half of the men’s 3.5 draw, Dale Nicholson, number one seed from NYSC, outmaneuvered Ed Bafford, who rebounded off the back wall, in his attempts to retrieve Nicholson’s drives to length. In the bottom half, Aleski Brown from NYAC beat Mason Drake in five setting up the final with Nicholson. The final went to four games with Brown outlasting Nicholson.

The men’s D draw saw the juniors fall victim to their more experienced counterparts. The semi-finals pitted Diego Hoic from NJ, against Enrique Doger and Tom Flynn from Connecticut against Seamus Thompson from New York. Both matches were over in three games setting up a final between Hoic and Flynn where Hoic claimed the winner’s title.

In the men’s 60+ draw the top two seed, Robert MacDonald and John Greco fell victim in the semi finales to Nikki Lang and Steve Vignolo respectively. In the final, it looked as if Lang from Canada might have made a comeback after taking the third game. However Vignolo was too strong and claimed victory with a 9-1 scoreline in the fourth game.

The six players in the men’s 70+ draw were split into two groups of three for round robin play. The winners of each group would face off against each other in the final. Norman Hugo from the Union club met Bob Barton from New Jersey in the final. Barton was just too strong in the final and was victorious in three games.

The women’s 5.0 and 4.0 draws were both round robin formats of four and five players respectively. In both draws it was a junior from NYSC that claimed the title. In the women’s 5.0 Emily Park continued to add to her growing list of titles with Amalia Londono from New Jersey taking second spot. In the women’s 4.5, Alia Aziz won all her matches to take the title. Only falling victim to Aziz, Christine Mercnik took second place.

The women’s C draw of eight included four juniors, two of which made it to the final. In the top half of the draw, Victoria Barba put up a spirited fight against Katherine O’Donnell in the semi-final. However O’Donnell won the match in three games. In the bottom half, having played a tough five game match against Campbell Sechrest, Karen Kim fell victim to Alix Walker. In the final O’Donnell from New Jersey beat Walker from Connecticut in three to take the title.

Results
Men’s Pro
Final: Shahier Razik def. Peter Genever 3-1
Semi-finals: Razik def. Julian Wellings 3-0; Genever def. Victor Berg 3-1

Women’s Pro
Final: Sharon Wee def. Alison Waters 3-1
Semi-finals: Wee def. Dominique Lloyd-Water 3-0; Waters def. Amelia Pittock 3-1

Men’s 6.0
Final: Beau River def. Marcus Cowie 3-0
Consols winner: Andrew Merrill

Men’s 5.5
Final: Adam Walker def. Michael Scherl 3-0
Consols winner: Kip Gould

Men’s 5.0
Final: Nick Monogenis def. Nik Bhandare 3-2
Consols winner: Ramesh Haridas

Men’s 4.5
Final: Attila Agh def. Eric Drier 3-2
Consols winner: Michael Farahnick

Men’s 4.0
Final: Ben Pierson def. Jesus Manzenda 3-2
Consols winner: Matthew Candel

Men’s 3.5
Final: Aleski Brown def. Dale Nicholson 3-1
Consols winner: Don Hamrahi

Men’s D
Final: Diego Hoic def. Tom Flynn 3-0
Consols winner: Jon Sonne

Men’s 60+
Final: Steve Vignolo def. Nikki Lang 3-1
Consols winner: Bob Kreitler

Men’s 70+
Final: Bob Barton def. Norman Hugo 3-0

Women’s 5.0 Round Robin
Winner: Emily Park
Finalist: Amalia Londono

Women’s 4.0 Round Robin
Winner: Alia Aziz
Finalist: Christine Mercnik

Women’s C:
Final: Katherine O’Donnell def. Alix Walker 3-0
Consols Winner: Campbell Sechrest