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The Colorado Springs Open
by Larry Rose
The 17th Annual Colorado Springs Open was held the 20th and 21st of October at the Hillside Community Center in Colorado Springs. Francisco Mendez (2329) defended his Open Singles title against a stronger than expected field. The field included Samson Dubina (2224), who was visiting from Ohio in order to spend some time training with Laura and John Leach. Also visiting from outside the region was Parviz Mojaverian (2292), who was a key speaker at a Pharmaceutical conference in Denver.
Mendez and Dubina teamed up to win the Open Doubles draw, but not before they were pushed to the fifth by Colorado Springs locals Derek Stanley and Tulio Wolford, who'd upset both the 2nd and 3rd seeded teams on their path to the final. Stanley's chopping and Wolford's well placed blocks and attacks kept the favorites off-balance, until the top seeds gained control to win the 5th game 11-6.
While the top three Open Singles seeds waltzed their way to the semis, the fourth semifinalist was in doubt from the start. When the smoke cleard, 20th seeded Jiri Mracek (1746) had joined Mendez, Mojaverian and Dubina. Mracek defeated Kevin Young (1915), Carlos Barrientos (1794), and Akeem Seriki (1863) on the way to the party. Dubina and Mendez faced off first (Dubina was in the top half based on a coin flip), with Mendez winning in straight games. Mojaverian dropped one game to Mracek, setting up the final. Mendez started out a bit shaky, but had clearly gained control by the 5th game, where his overpowering spin helped him take control.
Big winners elsewhere in the tourney were Laura Leach, winner of the Women's Singles and the U-1950 Singles, Carlos Barrientos, winner of the Over 40 Singles and the C Singles event, and Brian Taylor, winner of the D Singles and the Junior Regional Boy's Singles. Congratulations also go to Rick Massoth of Albuquerque, the recipient of the Paul Cracraft Memorial Sportsmanship Award.
Many thanks to the helpful staff of the Hillside Community Center, as well as to the tournament staff: Bob Tretheway, Brian Foley, David Huggins, and Alan Watson.
Open Singles: Final: Francisco Mendez (CO) def. Parviz Mojaverian (PA) -7,8,8,11,7,7; SF: Mendez def. Samson Dubina (OH) 6,8,3,5,10; Mojaverian def. Jiri Mracek (CO) 7,8,3,-9,3,4.
Open Doubles: Final: Francisco Mendez (CO)/Samson Dubina (OH) def. Derek Stanley (CO)/Tulio Wolford (CO) -7,7,10,-8,6; SF: Mendez/Dubina def. Tom Wintrich (NM)/Kevin Young (CO) 4,5,3; Stanley/Wolford def. Parviz Mojaverian (PA)/John Leach (CO) -6,-4,3,5,6.
Women's Singles: Final: Laura Leach (CO) def. Linxia Li (CO) 3,4,1.
U-3200 RR Doubles: 1. Tom Madigan (CO)/Junping Wang (CO) 3-0; 2. Brian Foley (CO)/Tisoy Aligaen (CO) 2-1.
U-1950 (A Singles): Laura Leach (CO) def. Shawn Schmidlen (CO) 6,-8,4,8,9; SF: Leach def. Alan McDermott (CO) 5,5,-8,-7,6,7; Schmidlen def. Rick Massoth (NM) -9,4,9,9,2.
U-1800 (B Singles): Final: Derek Stanley (CO) def. Greg Castillo (NM) 8,6,2; SF: Stanley def. Neal Miller (CO) 4,-7,6,-8,6; Castillo def. Charles Solomon (CO) 8,6,5.
C Singles: Final: Carlos Barrientos (CO) def. Mike Padgett (CO) 7,8,8; SF: Barrientos def. Shawn Schmidlen (CO) -9,5,7,4; Padgett def. Ed Warwick 5,-8,6,2;
D Singles: Brian Taylor (CO) def. Dave Miescke (CO) 6,6,8; SF: Taylor def. Brian Foley (CO) -7,5,-8,4,8; Miescke def. Mike Tarter (CO) 4,8,11.
E Singles: Chris Bridges (CO) def. Mike Cody (CO) 10,-9,2,9; SF: Bridges def. Tisoy Aligaen (CO) 11,-9,-7,10,8; Cody def. Wade Shuman (CO) 8,4,5.
U-1100 RR Singles: Mike Cody (CO) def. Manuel Salazar -9,5,8,7; Cody def. Jon Redman (CO) 5,-12,9,6; Salazar def. Steve Cookson (CO) -9,5,8,7.
Jr. Regional Championships: 1. Brian Taylor 2-0; 2. Azim Sola (CO) 1-1; 3. Adam Preiss (CO) 0-2.
Over 30 Singles: David Taylor (CO) def. David Rice (CO) 10,7,5; SF: Rice def. Tom Wintrich (NM) 6,12,-9,6; Taylor def. Alfred Adjei (CO) 5,10,7.
Over 40 Singles: Carlos Barrientos (CO) def. Shawn Schmidlen (CO) 8,6,10; SF: Barrientos def. David Huggins (CO) 9,10,9; Schmidlen def. Alfred Adjei (CO) -7,5,7,7.
Over 50 Singles: Allen McDermott (CO) def. Lee Rodriguez (CO) 5,-9,9,8; SF: McDermott def. Manuel Salazar (CO) 6,4,5; Rodriguez def. Ed Warwick 1,2,6.
2001 Paul Cracraft Memorial Sportsmanship Award: Rick Massoth (NM).
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