NEW YORK -- The Columbia men's squash team dominated at SL Green Streetsquash Center in an 8-1 victory over No. 10 Rochester in the 2022 season's home finale. Of the Lions' eight victories, seven were captured in three sets. The match recognized Columbia's seven graduating seniors; Velavan Senthikumar,
Callan Hall,
James Wyatt,
Justin Ghaeli,
Aditya Kankariya,
Vishan Patel, and
Nico Hughes.
Sophomore
Harold Castiaux gave Columbia a head start, defeating Luis Moncada from the fourth position. Castiaux collected thee first game 11-4, before fighting to the 12th point in the second set. Eventually, Columbia recorded the win in a 11-5. Ghaeli followed close behind, earning his final on-campus victory, 3-0, over Quilan Jeudy. The senior quickly picked up the win, taking the first set 11-7, the second 11-3, and the final 11-7.
Rookie
Adam Goad proved defeated Omar Zakaria from the fifth position. Goad steadily improved over the course of competition, earning the victory with 11-8, 11-5, and 11-4 sets, respectively. Following a hard fought 14-12 first set, sophomore
Rutvik Rau defeated Emilio Carillo 11-7 in the second set and 11-1 in the third.
Columbia secured the win from the sixth spot as junior
Chaitanya Shah toppled Jacob Koeppel 3-0. Shah quickly collected the first two games, 11-7, 11-3, before battling to a 13 point result in the match-deciding contest.
Velavan Senthilkumar played from the top spot with ease, winning in three sets over Cesar Segundo. Despite the match's intensity steadily increasing, Senthilkumar kept pace, earning the victory 11-5, 11-9, 12-10.
Ryan Chen marked Columbia's final 3-0 victory with a concise victory over Alejandro Porras.
In his final match at SL Green Streetsquash Center, senior
Callan Hall refused to relent from the second position. Hall took the first game from the Yellowjackets' Yashe Fadte before ceding the second 8-11. Despite countering with a 12-10 result in the third set, Hall was unable to finalize the victory in the fourth dropping another 8-11 result. With the match on the line, Hall fought to the final moment, defeating Fadte 14-12.
Next up, Columbia will compete at the CSA Men's National Championship in Philadelphia from Feb. 18-20.
For the latest on the Columbia squash programs, be sure to follow the teams on Twitter and Instagram (@CULionsSquash), on Facebook (Facebook.com/CULionsSquash), or by visiting GoColumbiaLions.com.
