Tournament Results
Ektelon/Pony Amateur Championships To Gonzales, Hajjar Ruben Gonzales scored his second national championship title in sweeping the Men's Open amateur rounds of the 1982 Ektelon/PONY National Championship Finals {May 5-9, the Sports Gallery, Anaheim, CA.) Gonzales, of Staten Island, NY, nipped California's Gerry Price in the finals to claim the national title and a Club Med trip after eliminating Los Angeles' No. 3 ranked Corey Brysman in the semi-finals. A lucky streak came for the defending champ in the quarter-finals when Jim Cascio of New Jersey took an unexpected loss at the hands of Florida's Matt Mathews who was playing in his second Ektelon finals tournament. In February, Cascio had scored a major upset in ousting Gonzales in the New York qualifying tournament, forcing Gonzales to play again in the Columbus regional for a chance at the finals {last year Cascio lost to Gonzales in the finals at Anaheim 155, 15-9). Cascio might have burned himself out playing in the pro event this year after upsetting ninth-ranked John Egerman early on and then giving his best against fourth-seeded Jerry Hilecher in the 16's {Hi lecher took the match 4-11, 11-7' 11-8, 11-1). Meanwhile, Price was stepping past Kyle Kamalu and No. 5 ranked Rich Wagner in the pro rounds, and taking out Mathews in the semi's of the amateur open draw. Price finally met his match with Gonzales losing 15-10, 15-4 in the finals of the amateur open, and losing to
Hilecher in the pro quarter-finals, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3. The Women's Open division saw 10 players floating between the amateur and pro ranks. New York's Tammy Hajjar, who had inched her way into the pro division 16's where she lost to Shannon Wright, came out on top in the amateur open draw. Hajjar sideswiped Beth Crawley of Atlanta and Ohio's Becky Callahan along the way before meeting up with Diane Bullard of Florida. Bullard gave Hajjar a run for her money in the first game of the championship match losing 15-13, but slipped in the second game 15-6 to give Hajjar the national title. In earlier action Bullard had defeated tough Cindy Baxter playing in the Ektelon championship event for the third year in a row before eliminating Sally Boyer of Oregon in the semi's. In the quarter-finals, Boyer upset three-time regional winner Stacey Fletcher. With a full draw of 16, the Men's Veteran matches found Mark Hegg of Stillwater, OK, coming out on top after downing Florida's Jay Schwartz 15-5, 15-1 0 in the finals. Hegg took his first win from Joe Wirkus, who along with Schwartz was the only veteran player to venture into the pro ranks {Wirkus lost to Bill Sell in the prelims; Schwartz gave straight sets to Wagner in the 32's). Ed Remen of Virginia and Stan Wright obliged with the second and third wins, advancing Hegg to his finals match with Schwartz and the Men's Veteran championship.
Amateur men 's champ Ruben Gonzales accepts congrats from Bob Smith (/.)and Bobby Stocker (r.).
In the Women's Veteran divisions, a limited draw of seven made easy taking for Lucy Zarfos of Pennsylvania who won her first Ektelon/PONY championship and Club Med trip after three tries at the national finals. Zarfos disappointed Donna Henry of Michigan 8-15, 15-14, 15-9 in the finals, leaving behind Gerri Stoffregen and Pat McCarrick in the semi's. In all, 54 amateurs competed in the national amateur finals after qualifying to play in this tournament from among the ranks of thousands of players throughout the United States. •
Results: Men's Open Singles Round of 16: Ruben Gonzales d. Gary Sanchez; Dave Negrete d. Steve Ginsburg; Corey Brysman d. Mike Almerico; Kelvin Vantrease d. Hank Marcus; Jim Cascio d. Evan Terry; Matt Mathews d. Steve Mondry ; George Vierra d. Mike Ray; Gerry Price d. Dan Mohr. Quarter-finals: Gonzales d. Negrete ; Brysman d. Vantrease ; Mathews d. Cascio; Price d. Vierra. Semi-finals: Gonzales d. Brysman ; Price d. Mathews. Finals: Gonzales d. Price 15-10, 15-4. Women's Open Singles Round of16: Stacey Fletcher (Bye); Sally Boyer d. Debbie Swenson; Diane Bullard d. Lynn Wojcik; Cindy Baxter d. Sheryl Kraus; Linda Forcade d. Sharon Fanning ; Becky Callahan d. Donna Myer; Tammy Hajjar d. Eileen Ehrlich ; Beth Crawley d. Kay Kuhfeld. Quarter-finals: Boyer d. Fletcher; Bullard d. Baxter; Callahan d. Forcade; Hajjar d. Crawley. Semi-finals: Bullard d. Boyer; Hajjar d. Callahan. Finals: Hajjar d. Bullard 15-13, 15-6. Men's Veterans Singles Round of16: Remen d. Grigg ; Hegg d. Wirkus; Radford d. DuBolsky ; Wright d. Jakinovich ; Guinter d. Aguglia; Dunn d. Luciw ; Schwartz d. Garfinkel ; Kessing d. Montague. Quarter-finals: Hegg d. Remen; Wright d. Radford ; Guinter d. Dunn ; Schwartz d. Kessing. Semi-finals: Hegg d. Wright; Schwartz d. Guinter. Finals: Hegg d. Schwartz 15-5, 15-10. Women 's Veterans Singles Quarter-finals: Stoffregen (Bye); Zarfos d. Jew; Henry d. Hebert; McCarrick d. Mitchell. Semi-finals: Zarfos d. Stoffregen ; Henry d. McCarrick. Finals: Zarfos d. Henry 8-15, 15-14, 15-9.