With strong play in the final rounds from Big Green squash standout Chris Hanson the U.S. team took third place at the 2010 World University Games, held July 10-17 in Melbourne, Australia.
Hanson finished in ninth place individually in the tournament, and Princeton’s Todd Harrity earned bronze — the U.S. team’s highest individual finish in the tournament.
According to Dartmouth men’s head squash coach Hansi Wiens, this is the first time a Big Green athlete has competed in the Games.
“In squash it’s very unique because [Hanson} is a freshman — it’s a great achievement,” Wiens said. “We’re happy to have him here. He’s actually one of the best U.S. players.”
Thanks to his ninth-place finish at the College Squash Association Individual Championships in March, Hanson scored an automatic bid into the tournament for the United States with four other men and women.
The Ivy League provided all of the United States’ players for the tournament, with players from Yale, UPenn, Princeton and Cornell joining Hanson in Melbourne.
Hanson’s matches against players from Australia and Canada were the best showcases of his talent, according to Wiens.
In his final match — against Frederick Reid of Canada — Hanson won the first game, 11-9, but then lost the next two games to find himself on precarious footing.
Finally, Hanson picked up momentum with an overwhelming 11-1 victory in the fourth game.
“I knew he was going to come out in that [fifth] game harder than the fourth, but I felt like my fitness and skill could outlast him,” Hanson, who is still in Australia, said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth. “I just pushed hard for the first half of the game until he broke and I took the final few points easily.”
Australia’s Luke Sims also pushed his match with Hanson to five sets and the Big Green star fought hard until the end. After evenly exchanging wins and losses for the majority of the match, Hanson closed out with the victory, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6.
The high level of challenging international competition was new for Hanson, who said he had never competed in a professional tournament until this event, although he has trained in Australia eight times in the past.
The challenge helped Hanson grow and improve as a player, he said.
“I feel like I will be even stronger and fitter than I was last season,” he said. “As for the team, hopefully I can bring some of the things I’ve learned this summer back to the practices with the guys.”
Hanson has already made “immense” improvements in his fitness after practicing twice a day throughout his freshman year, Wiens said.
“I’m really happy that he keeps training year round,” he said. “It’s good for the rest of the team to see that if you put the hard work in, you get something out of it.”
Before departing from down under, Hanson will compete in another professional tournament — a challenge he would like to continue in the United States, he said.
The Dartmouth squad will reunite in the Fall term, when the team will hold captains’ practices before official training begins on Oct. 15.
The first matches of the season will be the Ivy Scrimmages, which typically take place in early November, according to Wiens.
Excitement will continue to build as the season progesses, culminating with the individual championships — which the College will host this y ear, Wiens said. Wiens added that Hanson has a good shot to win the championships.
Last year, Hanson played as the Big Green’s top player over the course of the season and came away with All-American and All-Ivy honors. Coming in as the No. 2 player nationally in his age group, Hanson transitioned well to collegiate play to finish the season with an 8-3 record. The Big Green finished with a record of 12-8, while going 2-4 in Ivy League play.
No freshman squash player had received All-American honors since Ryan Donegan achieved the recognition in 2002, according to DartmouthSports.com.