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The Colorado Springs Open
by Larry Rose
The 18th Annual Colorado Springs Open was held the 19th and 20th of October at the Hillside Community Center in Colorado Springs. The tournament field was 74 players, including 19 juniors - the best junior turnout at the Colorado Springs Open in years. The growth in junior participation is directly related to two successful junior programs - one at the Table Tennis Center of Colorado Springs, and the other at the tournament's host club, the Pikes Peak TTC. The Open Singles final pitted Scott Preiss of Manitou Springs against one of those 19 juniors, John Leach of Boulder. The match featured spectacular returns by both players. Point by point and game by game, Leach held on to overturn Preiss' 4-2 lead. Leach was in control for the final game, which ended at 4. He became the youngest ever Colorado Springs Open Champion, aged 13 yrs, 6 months old.
John and his sister Laura teamed up for Open Doubles, but fell to doubles veterans Roger Kuseski and David Edwards.
Multiple winners at the event included Brian Taylor of Colorado Springs (U-18 boys and the U-1800s), Mike Tarter of Peyton (U-3200 Doubles and C Singles), and Tom Wintrich of Albuquerque (O-40 Singles and the recipient of the Paul Cracraft Memorial Sportsmanship Award). Several families joined the Leaches in garnering multiple awards - Austin Preiss defeated brother Adam in the U-14 Boys final and also finished 2nd in Class D. Keli Lianza defeated sister Kristi Lianza in the U-14 Girls final (both are daughters of Open Singles semi-finalist Bo Lianza).Open Singles: Final: John Leach (CO) def. Scott Preiss (CO) -9,8,-9,-7,7,-6,9,8,4; SF: Preiss def. Bo Lianza (CO) 8,-8,6,5,10,10; Leach def. Roger Kuseski (CO) 6,-9,7,-8,-4,5,4,-11,7.
Open Doubles: Final: Roger Kuseski (CO)/David Edwards (CO) def. John Leach (CO)/Laura Leach (CO) 8,6,-9,8; SF: Kuseski/Edwards def. Scott Preiss (CO)/Dana Jeffries (CO) -5,13,-6,6,7; Leach/Leach def. Bo Lianza (CO)/Tim St. Germain (CO) 6,-7,7,9.
U-3200 Doubles: Final: Sanjiv Thakor (CO)/Mike Tarter (CO) def. Wally Collins, Jr (OK)/Bill Munch (OK) 5,-2,6,5.
U-1950 (A Singles): Final: Derek Stanley (CO) def. Allen McDermott (CO) 9,7,-11,-8,6,8; SF: McDermott def. Shawn Schmidlen (CO) 16,-8,9,9,-7,8; Stanley def. David Taylor (CO) 7,6,-6,-6,5,5.
U-1800 (B Singles): Final: Brian Taylor (CO) def. Sanjiv Thakor (CO) 6,-13,12,-8,6; SF: Taylor def. Gary Green (CO) 5,-7,6,4; Thakor def. Greg Castillo (NM) -5,8,11,-9,5.
C Singles: Final: Mike Tarter (CO) def. Rick Chartrand (NM) 7,-13,8,9; SF: Tarter def. Sam Wu (CO) 6,6,-8,6; Chartrand def. Bill Munch (OK) 6,-7,7,10.
D Singles: Mike Cody (CO) def. Austin Preiss (CO) 13,8,8; SF: Cody def. John Warren (NM) 8,4,6; Preiss def. Monjur Rahim (CO) 6,8,1.
E Singles: Wally Collins Jr. (OK) def. John Hope (NM) -8,1,6,2; SF: Collins def. Jon Redman (CO) 10,3,10; Hope def. Kristi Lianza -10,10,7,6.
U-1100 RR Singles: Tisoy Aligaen (CO) def. Abdullah Masud (CO) 5,11,-7,2; SF: Aligaen def. Jeff Webster (CO) 13,-14,6,9; Masud def. Adam Preiss (CO) 9,6,7.
U-18 Boys Jr. Regional Championships: Brian Taylor (CO) def. Alex Hureau (CO) 6,4,7.
U-14 Boys Jr. Regional Championships: Austin Preiss (CO) def. Adam Preiss (CO) -6,5,9,7.
U-18 Girls Jr. Regional Championships: Keli Lianza (CO) def. Kristi Lianza (CO) 6,6,9.
Over 30 Singles: Jiri Mracek (CO) def. Tim St. Germain (CO) -9,2,11,7; SF: St. Germain def. Tom Wintrich (NM) -9,8,-7,5,5; Mracek def. Bo Lianza (CO) 6,-4,7,7.
Over 40 Singles: Tom Wintrich (NM) def. Carlos Barrientos (CO) -8,6,-8,5,9; SF: Tom Wintrich def. Jiri Mracek (CO) -10,8,7,7; Barrientos def. Alan McDermott 4,8,7.
Over 50 Singles: Carlos Barrientos def. Bob Leatherwood (CO) -12,5,6,5; SF: Leatherwood def. Alan McDermott (CO) 10,12,8; Barrientos def. Paul Ng (WY) 4,6,5.
2002 Paul Cracraft Memorial Sportsmanship Award: Tom Wintrich (NM).
Many thanks to the helpful staff of the Hillside Community Center, as well as to the officials: Bob Tretheway and Debbie Moya.
Return to the Colorado Springs Open homepage.