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Two Hard of Hearing Tennis Athletes from NY Metro To Compete in 2007 Dresse CupSIOUX FALLS, SD — June 25, 2007 — Rushan Samarasinghe of Mahwah, NJ and Andrew "Drew" Petrone of Staten Island, NY were named by USA Deaf Sports Federation (USADSF) to represent the United States in the Dresse Cup for Deaf Men in Munich, Germany on July 21 to 28, 2007. Sanctioned by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD), the Dresse Cup is more like the "Deaf Davis Cup" To be eligible for the Dresse Cup, a participant shall have a hearing loss of 55 decibels (dBs) or greater in the better ear over an average of 500, 1000 and 2000 Hertz. Eighteen nations will be represented at the 2007 edition of the Cup - the largest number of entries ever. Samarasinghe and Petrone earned the USA berths by finishing first and third places, respectively in the 2006 USADSF Deaf Tennis Qualifier at Farmington Farms Tennis and Athletic Club in Farmington CT on September 9 and 10, 2006. At the Qualifier (see report below), Samarasinghe, a former All-American and All-State High School (New Jersey) tennis star from Pascack Hills High School, breezed through four matches losing only one game. This former Columbia University varsity tennis player displayed finesse skill ideal for clay and will represent USA best hope against clay court players in Europe. A nationally ranked junior in Tennis during late 1980’s, Samarasinghe is regularly playing at Upper Ridgewood Tennis Club in Ridgewood, NJ. Also at the same Qualifier, Petrone earned an upset against Luke Faxon-St. Georges, a first seed from New Britain, CT, in a tough 2 and a half hour match with Petrone advancing 3-6;7-5;6-4. A former varsity player at Staten Island Academy, he was not familiar with the ICSD rule - "hearing aids or similar shall not be worn during competition" - and he lost a few games in the opening set but he recovered by adjusting himself to the sensory feel of his tennis racket vibrating upon contact with balls. He may be confused with Alexander J. Petrone, who ranks 9th in the Boys’ 14 Singles of the USTA Eastern Standing, but they are brothers. Petrone and his non-deaf brother practice at Bridgeview Tennis Center in Brooklyn, NY Howard Gorrell, Team Leader of USA Team to 2007 Dresse Cup, is pleased by both men’s abilities to play on clay courts. He believes that his 2007 team will have a good chance to win the Dresse Cup on clay courts for the first time. The last time the USA team captured the trophy was on hard courts in 1995 in Bradenton, Florida. Both men are newcomers to the world of deaf sports, but they found out that USADSF is no longer receiving development funds from the United States Olympic Committee, due to its realignment of goals in 2002 to focus on the Olympics, Paralympics and Pan American Games. There is not much time to lose in fundraising for Samarasinghe and Petrone. Each team member needs to raise $2,100. To defray competition expenses for both athletes, send your tax-deductible contributions, payable to USA Deaf Sports Federation" with "Tennis Fund" followed by each name or names on the memo line, to:
USA Deaf Sports Federation
German Version of the Dresse Cup for the Deaf Hard of Hearing Tennis Athlete from Los Angeles To Compete in 2007 Dresse CupSIOUX FALLS, SD — June 25, 2007 — Christopher Daniels of Los Angeles was named by USA Deaf Sports Federation (USADSF) to represent the United States in the Dresse Cup for Deaf Men in Munich, Germany on July 21 to 28, 2007. Sanctioned by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD), the Dresse Cup is more like the “Deaf Davis Cup” To be eligible for the Dresse Cup, a participant shall have a hearing loss of 55 decibels (dBs) or greater in the better ear over an average of 500, 1000 and 2000 Hertz. Eighteen nations will be represented at the 2007 edition of the Cup - the largest number of entries ever. Daniels earned the USA berth by finishing second place in the 2006 USADSF Deaf Tennis Qualifier at Farmington Farms Tennis and Athletic Club in Farmington CT on September 9 and 10, 2006. To reach the single’s final of the Qualifier, Daniels, a graduate of Carson High School, won in a two and half hour match 6-7(8-6); 7-5; 6-4 over Andrew Petrone of Staten Island, NY. This El Camino College student has improved his play over two years since he debuted at 2004 Florida Tryouts for earning berths of the 2005 USA Team His being as a member of the USA tennis team in the 2005 Dealympics in Melbourne, Australia might be contributed by his participation in the DhhEAF Program (Deaf and hard of hearing Educational Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles) headed by Roy Trafalski and Tom Baxted, Shortly after the Qualifier, Daniels went with his Rancho team to the 2006 USTA League Tennis 3.5 Adult National Championships in Tucson AZ last October. Howard Gorrell, Team Leader of USA Team to 2007 Dresse Cup, is pleased by Daniels’ improvement on playing on clay courts. He believes that his 2007 team will have a good chance to win the Dresse Cup on clay courts for the first time. The last time the USA team captured the trophy was on hard courts in 1995 in Bradenton, Florida. Daniels is a newcomer to the Dresse Cup, but he found out that USADSF is no longer receiving development funds from the United States Olympic Committee, due to its realignment of goals in 2002 to focus on the Olympics, Paralympics and Pan American Games. There is not much time to lose in fundraising for Daniels. He needs to raise $2,100. To defray competition expenses for him, send your tax-deductible contributions, payable to USA Deaf Sports Federation” with “Tennis Fund“ followed by his name on the memo line, to:
USA Deaf Sports Federation
German Version of the Dresse Cup for the Deaf 2006 USADSF Tennis Report on Dresse Cup Qualifier
Event: National Deaf Tennis Tryout (Qualifier) for Men The Qualifier took place on clay courts at Farmington Farms Tennis and Athletic Club in Farmington, Connecticut for two days to select national men’s team for the 2007 Dresse Cup. Weather was good, warm on Saturday and cool on Sunday. The Cup will be played in Munich, Germany July 21-29, 2007. There are new faces who upset higher seeds in double elimination tournament with third place consolation flight. Fifteen men competed and top four players will be sent to USADSF Committee for recommendation to be on national team for 2007. Fifth and sixth placed players may be selected as alternate. Rushan Samarasinghe, Andrew Petrone and Shehzaad Zaman are the newcomers with Chris Daniels who played for USA at 2005 Deaflympics in Melbourne. They are the top four players. Samarasinghe, Mahway, NJ, breezed through four matches losing only one game. He displayed finesse skill ideal for clay and may represent USA best hope against clay court players in Europe. Daniels, Los Angeles, CA, came in second but was no match for Samarasinghe 6-1;6-0, however he has improved his play over two years since he debuted at 2004 Florida Tryouts. Another match pitted Daniels, a hard court player against Petrone who has played on clay. Daniels won in a two and half hour match 6-7(8-6);7-5;6-4. This match gave both players hard fought and grueling effort. Petrone, Staten Island, NY, is 19 years old took third place defeating Zaman, Manhattan, NY, 8-4 in a pro-8 set. Earlier, Petrone and Luke Faxon-St. Georges, first seeded from New Britain, CT played in tough 2 and half hour match with Petrone advancing 3-6;7-5;6-4. Faxon-St.Georges would have placed on the team but had to withdraw from the tournament due to injury. 5th place went to Jim Brune of San Francisco and 6th to John Silva of Hartford. Special thanks to USTA (US Tennis Association) for releasing webpage announcement on our Qualifer. Samarasinghe and Petrone replied to us of their interest. Of special note is Billy Allaband, Wilmington, DE, second seeded, has participated in Deaf Tennis for almost 24 years. He is retiring and has turned into Orienteering and has been giving several demos on the new sport on the east coast. No women competed. There may be special selection for women in the near future. There was an ASD museum and campus tour Friday afternoon and afterwards a meeting was held at Gallaudet Building for drawing. John Silva gave interesting demonstration on old tennis rackets including Gallaudet. The place is historic as American School for the Deaf (ASD) started first deaf school in 1813 in Hartford. Kudos go to John Silva and Jeff Nardozza, the co-chairs, and their committee for well-run event. Arthur Moore of Sprint presented trophies to the players. Sprint sponsored the Qualifier. Thanks go to Joel Taylor and his staff for well-managed court setup. Howard Gorrell and John Wilson coordinated tournament direction with expertise in addition to 4 previous Tryouts. Howard has indicated through USADSF Home Administrator Cole Zulauf these players have paid their dues.
Qualifier Settings:
Posted: June 25, 2007 [ Back to News Main Page ] |
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