CANADIAN RAZIK WINS THE 2007 COMFORT INN OPEN SQUASH TITLE

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January 21, 2007

Canadian Shahier Razik won the US$20,000 2007 Comfort Inn Open squash title today over defending champion, Renan Lavigne of Marseille, France, at the Evergreen Squash Club on Vancouver’s North Shore by a 3-1 score.

This eagerly awaited match-up was between the retriever extraordinaire, Razik, and the mentally tough, but one would suspect, fatigued, Lavigne, due to the 47% more time Lavigne had spent on the court vs his opponent in this tournament. But does this extra time on court this week translate to fatigue – we’ll see.

The match started as one has come to expect a Razik match would start for him – slowly. He fell behind in the 1st game 1-8 before scoring 5 unanswered points until Lavigne crashed a forehand volley to the left nick for the 11-8 win in 19 minutes.

The second game was a bit relaxing and casual as the two combatants supplied ample evidence of sportsmanship and good natured behavior while Razik cruised to an 11-2 win in a very quick 8 minutes to tie the match 1-1.

The third game was the turning point as Razik seemed to be determined to extend every rally as long as possible to determine how much gas Lavigne actually had in the tank. Beautiful lengths, nicely disguised drops, clever boasts and even a nick or two, by both, had the players trading points fairly evenly as they stood at 7-7. Then Razik seemed to take control and won the game 11-7 in a punishing 26 minutes.

The near capacity crowd of 200, or so, was clearly enjoying the action as they clapped and screamed their delight throughout the game.

The 4th, and final game as it turned out, was basically controlled by Razik but not without a few humorous moments. When Razik was about to serve he was interrupted by a spectator walking to his seat. The referee, Rod Symington from Victoria, B.C., who has over 20 years of refereeing at the international level, asked for quiet and for there to be no movement during the play. To which Lavigne, who was starting to show signs of tiring, immediately responded – “Are you talking to me?” After another extraordinarily long rally which ended in a roll out nick for Razik, the crowd erupted with loud applause and visible clapping. Lavigne, observing the referee also clapping in appreciation, said, in a most good natured tone – “I understand that the gallery is appreciating the rally but I don’t expect the referee to be clapping too”.

It seemed clear that Lavigne was digging as deep as he could to find the strength to push on. His audible gasps and grunting, which we had never heard before, seemed to indicate that he truly was starting to run on the fumes. Razik continued his relentless pressure and concluded the match with a strategically placed back hand drop to win the game 11-5 and the match 3-1 in 76 minutes.

So a wonderful five days of PSA squash concluded with a Canadian champion crowned and the galleries, sponsors, volunteers and club members provided with many fine memories to dwell on. For complete write-ups on the weeks events, please go to http://www.evergreensquash.com/tournaments/PSAnews.html

Here’s to next year!!!!

This evening’s final results are as follows:

(2)Shahier Razik (Cda) def (3)Renan Lavigne (Fra) 8-11; 11-2; 11-7; 11-5 in 76 mins

Paul Marley
Tournament Committee