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Click
here to see pictures of State Doubles Champions.
Open Double
The finals in this division found the number one seeded team
squaring off with the number two team, the Szatkowski brothers,
Adam and Dane. #1 breezed to the finals without working up much
of a sweat but #2 Shane Conneely and Paul Brady just barely
avoided a semi-final loss to Jamie Simon and Jason Meisner by
the narrowest of margins. After winning the first game handily
21-10, Conneely/Brady found themselves on the short side of
a 21-20 loss. The win provided Simon and Meisner with considerable
confidence and they came out shooting from the hip and gained
what seemed an insurmountable 10-4 lead. But their opponents
would not concede and scratched and clawed back into the fray
over several exchanges of serve and pulled out an exciting 11-10
win. Then, in the finals they held off the Szatkowskis, winning
a hard fought two game match 21-12, 21-18 and earned the right
to the title 2002 Illinois State Doubles Champions.
A Division
Both semi-final matches went the tie-breaker route. The father/son
duo of Mike and Ray Burzic lost an 11-10 heart breaker to Joe
Ardito and substitiute partner Samantha England, a member of
the Lake Forest College Women's National Championship Team.
In the other bracket the brothers, Carlos and Oscar Zamora survived
a slugfest against the 40+ team of Chris Roberts and Scott Rosenthal.
In the end youth prevailed 21-13, 16-21, 11-4. In the finals
the Zamoras hammered out a 21-15, 21-18 victory over Ardito
and England.
B Division
Not unlike the Open division, the B finals found the number
one seeded team of Gary Danno and Jeff Serota matched up against
number two Tony Clarke and Mike Perkins Sr. Danno and Serota
had little trouble getting to the finals, but Clarke and Perkins
had their hands full in their semi-final match against Megan
Mehilos and Allison Roberts. Tony and Mike blasted their way
through the first game 21-8, but after adjusting to the power,
Megan and Allison provided some power of their own and won the
second game 21-17. However, in the tiebreaker Clarke and Perkins
proved too strong and won 11-3 setting up the stage for the
#1 vs. #2 finals. In the first game Danno and Serota cruised
to a 21-8 win, but in the second game Clarke and Perkins bounced
back in a squeeker 21-20 win. Although Danno and Serota made
a game of it in the tiebreaker, it appeared as if they had tired,
and their shots just wouldn't fall with Clarke and Perkins taking
full advantage, winning 11-6.
C Division
Vito "I want a trophy" Brunetti teamed up with Colm
Connolly and was successful in realizing his self-proclaimed
goal. It wasn't easy as the championship match against Bob Dillard
and Hank Schniepp went to a tiebreaker. But Vito earned his
trophy with a lot of help from his less vocal partner in a 21-18,
14-21, 11-1 victory.
50+ Division
With only four teams entered in this division a round robin
was scheduled. Once again a pair of polished veterans, Bud Clarke
and Sean Conneely rose to the top, winning all three of their
matches with the toughest competition coming against Butch McGee
and Wes Yee, but prevailing 21-16, 21-13.
60+ Division
A couple of old smoothies, Don Ardito and Bob Koenig, had little
trouble capturing their umpteenth championship going back to
their Open competition days. Their opponents in the finals,
John Falco and Ron James, did it the hard way with tiebreaker
matches in the quarters and the semis. There wasn't a whole
lot of gas in their tank for the championship match, and Ardito
and Koenig cruised 21-4, 21-9.
60+ B Division
John Sciacotta and Eddy Stark took the championship in this
B bracket over Lyle Miller and Tom Threlkeld. They lost the
first game 21-14 but came back with a vengence allowing their
opponents only two points in both the second game, 21-2, and
in the tiebreaker 11-2.
Juniors
A four-team round robin competition resulted in three of the
teams finishing with identical 2-1 records. A play-off scheme
was determined, and when the dust settled Nikolai Nahorniak
and Brian Connolly emerged as champions with a one game 21-10
victory over Suhn Lee and Aimee Ulbert. The Junoirs competition
continues to amaze spectatiors. They are indeed a tribute to
their coach and mentor, Lattof YMCA's Don Quinlan. |
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Copyright ©
2002 Illinois Handball Association. All Rights Reserved.
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