Tournament Results, Features and Photographs
     

1999 Florida State Games Squash Championships

Men's A Winner : Wade Beardsley 9/8,3/9,9/4,4/9,9/5

Men's A Runner- up : Lester Cox

Orlando Squash Players Brenda Grossnickle, Vino Kanhai, Pablo Salas and Wade Beardsley traveled down to Boca Raton on June 11 to compete in the 1999 Florida State Games Squash Championships. The tournament was played at the Boca Point Country Club and it was run by John Lively. Matches started late Friday night and continued until Sunday afternoon, when only the best were still playing. There was food to eat, beer to drink, squash to play, and great matches to watch. Several top ranked Caribbean men and women players entered to give this British Colony sport an Island flavor.

Brenda Grossnickle played in the Women's A and the Men's B divisions. Brenda won her first round in the Women's A by injury withdrawal. Karen Anderson of Boca Raton, hurt her Achilles in the in the fifth game of the match. Brenda then lost her next round to Marlin West, an up and coming ladies Caribbean player. Brenda won her first two rounds in the Men's B. In the semi-finals Brenda lost in the fifth to Seraphine Johnson, a lovely young player from the Bahamas. After winning several Men's B tournaments, Vino Kanhai has moved up into the Men's A division. Vino  easily won his first round of Men's A on Friday night 3-0. In the second round he lost to Tim Preston, an excellent Australian transplant now living in Sunrise FL. Vino then entered the Men's Super B draw, which is the Men's A Consolation. In the first round of Men's Super B's Vino played well, but lost 3-1 to Stefan Neid who is a very strong Men's A competitor. Pablo Salas, the 1999 State of Florida Men's B Champion, lost his first round of Men's A 3-0 to Lester Cox, the eventual Men's A finalist. In the first round of Men's Super B's, Pablo played Stefan Neid, who also beat Vino in his next round. Though Pablo lost to Stefan, he played well and the score was 3 -1.

Wade Beardsley, the 1999 State of Florida Men' A Champion, saved the day for the other Orlando players. Though Brenda, Vino and Pablo all played well, each were a little disappointed at having not done better. But Wade was the shining star of Orlando Squash. Though he had some tough matches along the way, he stayed mentally tough and focused. He did not let the rough spots in his matches dampen his will to win. In his first round of Men's A, Wade played Sarlil Chari, a transplanted Pakistan. Wade lost the first two games and then charged back to win the next three convincingly. Sarlil gave Wade a good run, but in the end Wade prevailed as the stronger player. In the next round Wade played Tim Preston, an off the court friend but an on the court nemesis. Wade revenged his previous lose to Tim by beating him 3-1. In the finals, Wade played Lester Cox, the #1 Bahamian player and a top five Caribbean player. Lester is an excellent shot maker and front court player. Lester continually volleyed everything in reach to the front wall, side wall nick. But Wade was there to retrieve all but the deadest of nicks. Wade would drive the ball hard and deep, or lob it deep, trying to push Lester to the back. It was a battle of styles. In the fifth game, Wade's ability to move Lester to the back with high soft lobs, forced the shot maker to try for too much. Lester started making mistakes and hitting the tin. Wade emerged from the 1999 Florida State Games Championships as the best player in the tournament.

Revised November 1, 1999