Nationals: Day 3

Well after a lacklustre doubles result, I was ready to put that portion of the competition behind me and get into singles. The only issue with doing that was in the tournament structure. In the drawmaster's infinite wisdom, the decision was made to play only the round of 32 today and leave the round of 16 as well as the quarter finals until tomorrow. This meant I had the day off.

Not being one to waste days away, I did go for a leisurely walk after breakfast, and went over to the club in the afternoon both to watch some of the matches and partake of a light hit on the courts when time permitted. There are some odd seams on the back wall but for the most part the courts bounce true and while they are fast for panel courts, they are definitely slower than those in Kelowna that I played on earlier in the season. The first round matches all went according to seed as well, save for 2 home town boys who were able to step up their games and secure spots in the top 16.

18th seeded Tanner Mattson outlasted 15th seeded Hugo Laprise 11-7 tiebreaker to secure his spot in the round of 16 tomorrow. He will have his work cut out for him against 2nd seeded me haha! The other surprise entry into the second round is former Junior National Champion and 22nd seed Eric Urteaga, who was able to take advantage of some inconsistent play from 11th seed Lee Connell to secure his spot. Lee seemed to be in control of the match, taking the first game 15-5 and leading in the second 13-9 before Urteaga elevated his play to take the second 15-13. The BC resident rode this momentum to an early lead in the tiebreaker which he never relinquished. A controversial call at 10-6 was held up under appeal that gave him the game and the match. I can't imagine how tough this is for Connell, after coming off of such a fantastic doubles result. Having had to play for 17th after losing first round when I shouldn't have I can tell you it's a brutal feeling but it does teach you about mental presence so I hope that Lee at least took that lesson away from the match.

With the 16's and quarter finals tomorrow it will be a jam packed day of racquetball and hopefully after it's all said and done, I'll have secured a spot in the semis. Until then!

Cheers,

Tim