MEDFORD – The Tufts University men's squash team defeated Bates College by a score of 7-2 on Friday at the Tufts Squash Center. The Jumbos were #18 and Bates was 25th in the College Squash Association poll this week. The victory is the first for the Jumbos over the Bobcats in more than 20 years.
Four of the Jumbos' seven wins were in three games with the other three finishing in five games. Sophomore #1 player Harry Charlton (pictured) won in three, taking the first two 11-2 and 11-6. The third game was a hard-fought battle by both sides with Charlton getting the victory over Bates' Jesper Phillips 12-10. Junior Vivaan Jaikishan was another Jumbo who won in three games, winning all three by four points or less. Jaikishan defeated Bates' Sultan Hashmi in the fifth position 11-9, 11-7 and 16-14. The other two 3-0 winners for Tufts were senior #8 Konrad LaDow and freshman Oliver Eielson at #9, both winning fairly handily. LaDow had scores of 11-6, 11-2 and 11-7 while Eielson earned an 11-2, 11-4, 11-5 victory.
Freshman Kerwin Teh in the third spot (11-5, 8-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9), junior Kunal Valia playing at #2 (14-12, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7) and seventh-player Marco Rodriguez (10-12, 11-2, 11-8, 12-14, 11-7) all earned crucial 3-2 wins for the Jumbos to help lead the team to the 7-2 victory. Sanjeev Jeyabalan and Dillon O'Shea also competed for the Jumbos, losing in four game and five games, respectively.
Next, Tufts will host Williams in another NESCAC matchup on Thursday, December 9.
Written by Tim O'Brien, Athletic Communications Intern
