On December 8, fifty players converged on Severna Park, Maryland for the Maryland State Doubles Championships. The players formed four extremely competitive divisions, resulting in a day of numerous tough, closely fought matches in which nail-biting tie breakers were the rule rather than the exception.
Dan and Adam Zimet won the Open Division with a well played, thrilling 11-10 tiebreaker win over Lee Anderson and Will Bardwell. The Zimets dominated game one and seemed to have all of the answers for their opponents through most of game two. Lee and Will were never able to put many points together, scoring only one or two points each service inning as their offense was stalled by Dan’s relentless gets and Adam’s steady play. But with the Zimets ahead 13-7, Will and Lee made a spirited charge and got back into the competition. Their points started coming in bunches and they caught the Zimets late, winning 21-19 with clutch shots down the stretch. Their momentum carried into the tiebreaker. Will and Lee seemed to have more energy and suddenly controlled all of the rallies. It appeared that either the long day of handball or the strength and intensity of Will and Lee had taken its toll on the Zimets. However, they were able to reach into reserves, get back in the game, and even get to match point before Will and Lee stopped them at 10-8. Will and Lee quickly got to match point themselves, taking advantage of two rare Zimet hand errors, one by each brother. But Dan was able to drill a perfect kill to get Lee out and returned Will’s serve past Lee to get back into the service box. This time the Zimets weren’t to be denied as Dan executed a serve-and shoot on the next rally to capture the championship. Assuming the State doesn’t pass legislation to make whining about start times, seeds, or referee calls illegal, Will and Lee will have many championships in the future, but they will have to wait for another day to win their first Maryland State 4-wall title.
On the way to the final, the Zimets got by the strong, young team of Logan Foley and C.J. Raymond 21-12, 21-7 in their first match, and survived a brutal semifinal against Rick Anderson and Jay Miller 21-19, 12-21, 11-3. In that semifinal match, it appeared that Dan’s body was letting him down as both of his thighs started cramping. However, as Dan pounded the electrolytes, Adam showed the benefits of his cross training and dominated the late part of the match with his steady play and roll-out kills. Bardwell and Anderson made the finals without losing a game, stopping Bobby and Mark Ozgar, 21-12, 21-5, and Roger Berry and Josh Ho, 21-16, 21-16.
In the combined Masters and B division, Dennis Duttenhoffer and Juan Maldanado turned in the most dominating performance of the day. Duttenhoffer’s steady play and Maldanado’s impressive power were just too tough for the remainder of the 7-team field, winning the title without dropping a game. In the final, they handled Charles Rector and Randy Wolfe 21-13, 21-13. On their way to the final, they stopped Bo Sites and Bob Gill in the quarters, 21-5, 21-8, and Elliot Greenwald and Josh Osburn in the semis, 21-3, 21-12. Rector and Wolfe barely squeaked by in their semi-final match over the up-and-coming team of D.J. Healey and J.J. Nissley, 21-19, 21-19.
The 8-team Golden Masters division featured two incredibly close, hard fought semifinal matches. When all of the dust had cleared and the finals played, Rick Compton and Bob Humphries were left standing as the champions, winning an anti-climactic final over Tony Winter and Bob Bardwell, 21-6, 21-7. The two semifinals matches were played simultaneously and were decided by a combined four points. Compton and Humphries survived an 11-10 tiebreaker against Bob Dyke and Ken Greco while Winter and Bardwell squeaked out an 11-8 thriller against Danny Ho and Bob Maguire. The final turned out to be a battle of attrition as Winter and Bardwell, without much time between matches, weren’t able to maintain their energy levels from their previous matches.
The four teams that made up the round robin in the Super Golden Masters were amazingly evenly matched. Karl Lady and Steve Metzger played tiebreakers in each of their matches. After winning the first two matches, they got within 2 points of the championship against Mike Raszkiewicz and Bill Bohr. However, Raszkiewicz and Bohr pulled out an 11-9 tiebreaker. That left three teams tied with 2-1 match records. Under the tie breaking procedures, because of game records, Lady and Metzger were left out in the cold in third place while Raszkiewicz and Bohr faced off against David Hinkleman and Joe Pleszkoch in an extra 11-point tie breaker to determine the champion. Hinkleman and Pleszcoch got better every match and rode the momentum all the way to the championship, beating an exhausted Raszkiewicz and Bohr 11-3.
Many thanks to N. P. Frank for running the tournament so smoothly, and to Charlie and Sharon Parsons, whose pure magic make every tournament they are involved in more enjoyable.
OPEN
Dan and Adam Zimet d Will Bardwell/Lee Anderson 21-6; 19-21; 11-10
B/40+
Dennis Duttenhoffer/Juan Maldanado d Charles Rector/Randy Wolfe 21-13, 21-13
50+
Rick Compton/Bob Humphries d Tony Winter/Bob Bardwell, 21-6, 21-7
60+
Hinkleman/Pleszcoch d Raszkiewicz and Bohr 11-3 (Round Robin tie-breaker; 3-teams tied 2-1)
By Alan and Nathaniel Frank