Melody Ruiz and Juan Guerra
It was freezing in NYC but the action was red hot. Spectators and
players took advantage of the opportunity to go inside to watch the
CPQ Big Blue Mixed doubles at the H.E.S. (located in Brooklyn, NY).
Tony Roberts and Melody Ruiz run a tight ship. Matches were
scheduled to start at 8AM sharp. When I arrived at 730AM players
were already engaged in warm-up games. I guess that shows the
players can enter on time and show up as scheduled when they need
to.
Mixed doubles can be very exciting to watch. The usual strategy
is to attempt to “bring it to” the female, while the she tries to
play rock steady until an offensive opportunity presents itself her
team. The women earned a lot of respect. It is no easy job for them
to return the barrage of bullets that the men are hammering at them.
Amazingly Gladys Miranda, winner of the September 2005 mixed
doubles, was in the tournament just 3 weeks after giving birth.
Calderon and Roberts found themselves down 15-0 and cameback to
15-19 before falling 21-19 to Davis and Sostre. “Wildman Rick’s”
demeanor was surprisingly cool throughout the day as he and Noemi
Ocasio squeaked by Rob and Tracy 21-19 in the semis before falling
25-18 to “Little Eddie” and Maria in the final.
Prize money, awarded by the CPQ Handball/Paddleball Association
totaled $10,000. Results will be submitted to the Canarsie Courier
and ARTE TV was on site filming. Not bad for one-day of handball.
Thanks to Max and Moshit for making the HES available. Internet
access from the facility made it possible to post the results as the
tournament was progressing. The next tournament at the HES
is scheduled for Sunday March 19th. The application can be found
online.
Humberto Baez & Ray Lopez
partners again and looking to make some noise in 2006. "Taking all
Challenges"
