PHILADELPHIA - Harry Charlton (pictured) won the #1 match to clinch a 6-3 victory for the Tufts University men's squash team over Bates College in the quarterfinals of the Summers Cup at the 2022 College Squash Association (CSA) National Collegiate Team Championships on Friday at Penn. The Jumbos were the fifth seed in the bracket and the Bobcats were fourth.
Charlton and Bates' Jesper Phillips were tied at one game apiece before Charlton came on for an 11-2, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 win that was the Jumbos' fifth of the match. That cut off a comeback by the Bobcats, who had rallied from a 4-1 deficit to pull within 4-3. Tufts' Sanjeev Jeyabalan finished off the Jumbo win 9-11, 11-5, 11-4, 5-11, 11-9 in the #4 match for the 6-3 final.
Tufts had taken two out of three in hard-fought matches at #3, #5 and #7 to open the contest. Oliver Eielson won 12-10, 11-2, 9-11, 11-8 to give Tufts a 1-0 lead from the #7 spot. Bates' Labeeb Ali won in five in the fifth match (11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5) to even the team score at 1-1. Kerwin Teh returned the favor for the Jumbos with a one-hour, three-minute victory in the third match (12-10, 8-11, 14-12, 9-11, 11-5) to put Tufts up 2-1.
The Jumbos then built their lead to 4-1 with quick wins by Dillon O'Shea at #8 (11-9, 11-6, 11-5) and Kunal Valia in the second match (11-2, 11-0, 11-5). However, Bates' Jonathan Walker and Garrett Wenberg both overcame deficits to win. Walker won the sixth match 11-13, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7, and Wenberg rallied from down two to win 8-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-4 in the ninth spot.
However, Charlton would win at the top to secure a spot in the semifinals for Tufts. The Jumbos (7-6) will play top Summers Cup seed St. Lawrence on Saturday at 6:30 PM. The Saints defeated Middlebury in the quarterfinals 7-2.
Bates (5-11) drops into the consolation bracket.
