By Philip Lim
The Oakland Lions await in the league finals for the winner of this match at Concord. Concord ace Trevor Runyan used this match as important practice for the men's national team trials in San Diego this week. He has been on the junior national team but hopes to make his first men's national team. Concord brought showman James Therriault and Philip Lim to the table to present their strongest possible lineup. San Francisco did the same with stars Misha Kazantsev, Spencer Chase, and Terry Tam.
Terry Tam (San Francisco) vs Trevor Runyan (Concord)
Trevor is an aggressive two-winged looper and so is Terry Tam. However, Trevor overpowers Terry and gets Terry to try for too much causing him to miss. Trevor wins 3-0 for Concord.
Spencer Chase (San Francisco) vs Philip Lim (Concord)
Spencer uses pips on his backhand and loops with his forehand. Philip is a penhold attacker. In the past, these two players have played very close matches. In the opening game, both players are slow to start but its 6-all. Spencer is playing into Philip's backhand trying to win the pips to pips battle but Philip is able to drive backhand punches down the line out of Spencer's reach. In games 2 and 3 Philip plays more aggressive, steps around, and plays forehands to keep Spencer blocking. Philip wins 3-0. Concord is now up 2-0.
Misha Kazantsev (San Francisco) vs James Therriault (Concord)
James is a steady defender and known for his great lobbing abilities. Misha is known for his strong attacking abilities. In the first game, James surprises Misha with a variety of heavy and no spin chops. Misha is not moving and loses game 1. In game 2, Misha stops attacking forcing James to become the aggressor. This works for Misha as James is missing attacks and cannot get enough winners past Misha. Misha utilizes his defensive strategy to take the match 3-1. Concord leads 2-1.
Misha Kazantsev/Spencer Chase (San Francisco) vs Philip Lim/Trevor Runyan (Concord)
This doubles match was very exciting. The more consistent team was winning each game. Serve returns became critical and Concord had more unforced errors off serve returns than San Francisco.
Spencer Chase (San Francisco) vs Trevor Runyan (Concord)
Trevor's leg started to hurt him in game 1 and he started to move less and his stance became more upright. He was trying to win with one loop winner which backfired as he was missing a majority of his attacks. Down 2 games, Trevor fought off the pain to even the match at 2 games apiece. In the fifth game, Trevor was playing to Spencer's forehand in the beginning to avoid the dead pips blocks and was up 10-6 and then started to play to Spencer's backhand. Spencer made amazing blocks and took 2 points off Trevor's serve. When up 10-8, Trevor tried to put the match away but Spencer got 2 edges in a row. DEUCE!!! Spencer makes Trevor play to his backhand and gives Trevor nasty dead pips blocks. Spencer pulls out the match and SF leads concord 3-2!!!
Misha Kazantev (San Francisco) vs Philip Lim (Concord)
Misha plays steady to open the match. After taking game 1 at deuce, Misha attacks first in game 2, giving him a 7-3 lead. Philip climbs back utilizing his advantage in the short game. Still Misha pulls out some huge loops which Philip misses taking game 2. Misha proves to be a slightly better player as he wins 3-0 with all games being close.
San Francisco pulls off the upset and will face the mighty Oakland Lions in the finals. Misha Kazantsev will have to have his "A" game working if his team is to beat Oakland.