Rainbow Doubles July 2011
Another Sun-kissed weekend blessed the long storied July 3-wall Rainbow Beach doubles tournament for 2011. Along with the good weather came some outstanding and entertaining play, as players and fans alike were all reminded of what a treat it is to play at “Da Beach”.
Champions: Dane and Adam Szatkowski, Finalists: Nikolai Nahorniak and Marco Lemus
The Open Doubles played to the seeding as Marco Lemus-Nahorniak met the Szatkowski brothers in the climax on Sunday. But it wasn’t an easy road. The quick and opportunistic Shane Conneely, with steady partner Komesthoeft in the rear gave the young Rainbow wunderkinds all they could handle. In the breaker Komesthoeft-Conneely jumped out 2-0, but when Lemus-Nahorniak got the serve, Marco got white hot, hitting 4 aces while serving out for an 11-2 win. Meanwhile Billy Mehilos and Adam Waehner kept the Szat’s on their toes, but falling in two close games. So the finals had all the drama, with the two top seeds ready to go under a cloudless sky. But unlike 2010, this time the older guys won. The first game see-sawed with rallies by both sides, with no clear momentum, with the Szat’s winning 21-19. The second game saw continued good play by Dane, and excellent serves by Adam, for the Szat’s, while Nahorniak was a bit off on his usually reliable kills, and Marco struggled a bit with a sore right shoulder. The result was a 21-14 win by the popular Szatkowski’s, and a treat for the fans who watched this pro-quality 3-wall.
Champions: Matt Chu and CJ Laffey, Finalists: Derrick Contreras and Riley Kloss
The B doubles finals were an excellent look into the future as 4 young men fought thru the field of crafty beach veterans to compete in a very well played and good finals. Matt Chu and CJ Laffey had a bit too much fire-power over Riley Kloss and Derrick Contreras. Quick feet and some good power by both teams had this feeling a bit less like a “B” match and more like a prelude to the next few years. We look forward to seeing all these guys improve their 3-wall skills, as they all four showed really good potential.
Finalists: Mark Murphy, Jim DeVito, Champions: Dave Dohman and Larry Dohman
In the popular 50’s bracket the “partner-picking” skills mentioned above played like a symphony for Larry Dohman as he and brother Dave were simply too much for the field, holding a powerful Devito-Murphy team to 8 & 3 points in the finals. Dave looked in great shape and sharp for another National’s run, while Larry had multiple devilish serves which both got points & frustrated the opponents. Devito-Murphy deserve great credit for chasing away national powerhouse 50’s team Bardeau-Ivy. This semi-final match was a great tie-break afar, and all 4 players were worn out in the hot Rainbow sunshine. Kudos to all.
The small 60’s doubles draw saw a round-robin format go to John Bercher and newly eligible Mario Schembari. This could be Schembari’s first Rainbow crown, and like all good doubles players know, it helps to have a good partner.