The 26th annual Kiva Classic tournament concluded Sunday, with more than a dozen championship matches. The four-day tournament, which was held at the Kiva Club in downtown Santa Fe, attracted more than 100 participants, and everyone had a lot of fun on the courts and off.
      Here is a list of champions and finalists in each division:

Open Doubles
Champions: Eric Eiteljorg (Denver) and Sean Gallagher (Kiva)
Finalists: Alex Dumas (Colorado Springs) and Alicia McConnell (Colorado Springs)
 
40+ Doubles
Champions: Eric Eiteljorg (Denver) and TJ Johnson (Denver)
Finalists: Alex Dumas (Colorado Springs) and Alicia McConnell (Colorado Springs)
 
50+ Doubles
Champions: Jim Nelson (Louisville, CO) and Grant Robinson (Kiva)
Finalists: Sean Ryan (Portland, OR) and Derrick Cameron (Ridgefield, PA)
 
55+ Doubles
Champions: Martin Casdagli (Kiva) and David Barker (Kiva)
Finalists: Keith Thompson (Denver) and Alan Dille (Golden, CO)
 
60+ Doubles
Champions: David Barker (Kiva) and Walter Burke (Kiva)
Finalists: Rugs Wilson (Denver) and Alan Dille (Golden, CO)
 
65+ Doubles
Champions: James Gibbons (San Francisco) and Clark Amos (Scottsdale, AZ)
Finalists: Sue Kaffka and Martin Kaffka (Vancouver, BC)
 
70+ Doubles
Champions: Neil Ross (Carbondale, CO) and Curt Castleman (Evergreen, CO)
Finalists: Mike Tramutt (Aravada, CO) and Randy Waesche (Denver)
 
75+ Doubles
Champions: Michael Wilson (Westmount, QC) and John Osborn (Vancouver, BC)
Finalists: Graham Sharman (Kiva) and David O’Loughlin (Pittsburgh, PA)
 
80+ Doubles
Champions: Dave Matthews (Kiva) and Bill Jones (Kiva)
Finalists: Michael McBean (Westmount, QC) and Purdy Jordan (Mexico City)
 
40+ Softball Singles
Champion: Sean Ryan (Portland, OR)
Finalist: T.J. Johnson (Denver)
 
50+ Softball Singles
Champion: Tom Abrams (Kiva)
Finalist: Derrick Cameron (Ridgefield, PA)
 
60+ Softball Singles
Champion: Tra Pippin (Oklahoma City, OK)
Finalist: Walter Burke (Kiva)
 
70+ Softball Singles
Champion: Warren Young (Dallas)
Finalist: George Meyer (Fair Oaks, CA)

50+ Hardball Singles
Champion: Grant Robinson (Kiva)
Finalist: Sean Ryan (Portland, OR)
 
60+ Hardball Singles
Champion: Walter Burke (Kiva)
Finalist: Jim Gibbons (San Francisco, CA)
 
70+ Hardball Singles
Champion: Rick Taft (Pepperpike, OH)
Finalist: George Meyer (Fair Oaks, CA)

    The October issue of Squash Magazine has named Walter Burke one of the country’s more important and influential squash luminaries. Burke, who lives in Santa Fe, is president of the New Mexico Squash Racquets Association. 
     The magazine’s third-annual “Top Fifty” list named a person for each state, and Walter was the editors’ pick for New Mexico.
     Wrote the editors: “Despite the heavy historical weight of a few cities and regions, squash has, for well more than a half century, been a national game. After the last state without a court — Arkansas — put one in Bentonville in 2001, you could play in every state in the Union.
     “In some places today, squash is still a niche sport: under-reported, existing on the liminal edges of fitness clubs, on a couple of converted racquetball courts. You know, vegetable jokes.
​     "But the grassroots leaders in those states are indistinguishable to their more celebrated brethren on the coasts. They have an implacable passion for the game and the community around it.”
     And here’s what they said about Walter: “Burke grew up playing squash — his father had been on the team at Wesleyan — and played at Bowdoin. After moving to Santa Fe in the 1980s, he first organized tournaments and junior clinics at El Gancho Fitness and more recently a men’s pro singles event at the Kiva Club, as well as the famous Kiva Classic amateur doubles tournament. Sixty-four, Burke has been the president of the New Mexico SRA since 1997.”

Noon: Jaymie Haycocks easily defeated Babtunde Ajagbe, 3-0.
     Haycocks, an Englishman, is the tournament’s No. 1 seed and is ranked No. 88 in the world.
     He won 11-8, 11-7 and 11-8.
     The first game was the longest at 12 minutes. The players traded points early on, then Haycocks ran off two strings of three points in a row to take a 10-5 lead. Ajagbe ran off three straight to close the margin, but it was too late. Game to Haycocks.
     In the second game, which lasted 9 minutes, Haycocks jumped to a 4-0 start, and built a 6-1 lead before Ajagbe won five straight to make it a game. But Haycocks won five of the next six points to close it out. Haycocks won two points on service aces, both lobs to Ajagbe’s backhand.
     The third game, which lasted 10 minutes, was back-and-forth and was tied 8-8. But then Haycocks won three straight points to win it. On the final point, Ajagbe returned a serve into his forehand corner and managed to trap himself there. Haycocks went to hit the ball, but the ball hit Ajagbe first. End of match.
     The audience chuckled, the two players smiled and briefly hugged each other before leaving the court.
     Haycocks had cruised in his opening round match, beating Mexico’s Heralio Salaiz Estrada in three quick games and giving up only 12 points in the match.
     Ajagbe had to work hard in his opening round win over 16-year-old Mexican Leonel Cardenas. That match took an hour and went to five games.
     Ajagbe, a 29-year-old Nigerian, was seeded No. 7. Ajagbe is ranked World No. 184. This is his second time playing in the Kiva Open.
     The 32-year-old Haycocks is the oldest player in the tournament to reach the quarterfinals.

1 PM: Reuben Phillips prevailed in a long, hard-fought, five-game match against Charlie Lee.
     The match went the full distance, with Phillips winning, 12-10, 7-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5. It took 1 hour and 12 minutes.
     Lee stretched Phillips with many long rallies, retrieving shot after shot and often winning the rally, but Phillips was the more physical player. At 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds, he outweighed the 5-foot-10 Lee by 50 pounds. Phillips often used his mass to his advantage, making it difficult for Lee to get cleanly to the ball.
     Phillips, a 24-year-old Englishman, is the tournament’s No. 3 seed and ranked World No. 147.
     Lee, an 18-year-old also from England, is ranked World No. 187, and was the tournament’s No. 8 seed.
     Both Phillips and Lee won their opening round matches in three games. Phillips took unseeded American Andrian Leanza in a 45-minute match, while Lee cruised past Bermuda’s Noah Browne. 

3 PM: Edgar Zayas defeated Alex Ingham in a seesaw five-game match.
     Game scores were 11-9, 8-11, 5-11, 11-3 and 11-4.
     Ingram, a left-hander, seemed in control of the match after the third game, but found himself quickly behind 6-1 in the fourth game and never regained his equilibrium. He began missing shots that he had made earlier in the match, and seemed to go for the knockout punch rather than playing with the patience and consistency that had won him games two and three.
     Zayas, a 21-year-old Mexican, is ranked World No. 147. He dispatched American Nick Talbott in the tournament’s opening round, 11-9, 11-5 and 11-5.
     In his opening round match, Ingham upset No. 6 seed Diego Gobbi of Brazil, winning easily in three straight games, 11-7, 11-3 and 11-4. That match lasted just 30 minutes.
     Ingham, a 26-year-old Englishman, was the only unseeded player to reach the quarterfinals.

4 PM: American Dylan Cunningham upset No. 2 seed Adam Murrills of England, 3-1.
     Cunningham won the first game, 11-9. The game was tight throughout, with both players hitting rails and cross-courts with power.
     The second game went to Murrills. The game was close until near the end, when Murrills hit a crosscourt winner into the nick off of Cunningham’s serve, then got a stroke call from a loose rail hit by Cunningham. The second game went to Murrills, 11-8.
     The third game was neck-and-neck. Murrills tinned two shots midway through the game to keep Cunningham close, then Cunningham took a 10-9 lead, only to have Murrills tie at 10-10. Cunningham won the next two points, and the game, 12-10.
     Cunningham took the fourth and final game decisively, 11-6.
     Ultimately, it was Cunningham’s size – he is 6-foot-4  – along with his reach and power that won the match. It was a mystery Murrills couldn’t solve.
     Murrills was the tournament’s No. 2 seed and is ranked World No. 113.
     In his opening round match, the 26-year-old Murrills defeated his former coach and mentor, Drewe Williams. Williams is the Kiva Club’s resident squash pro, and he taught Murrills when Murrills was a junior player in England.
     The 22-year-old Cunningham is seeded No. 5 in the tournament and his world rank is No. 179. In his first match at this year's Kiva Open, he beat Scotland’s Jon Geekie in straight games.​

         The second annual Kiva Club Open tournament began today in Santa Fe with eight professional singles matches. The tournament is a combination professional and amateur tournament. The Professional Squash Association portion has 16 players competing for ranking points and for $5,000 in prize money.
     The amateur draw, which starts playing on Friday, includes singles and doubles in various skill levels.
​
    Here’s a report on today’s professional action:
 
Noon:  Jaymie Haycocks easily defeated Heraclio Salaiz Estrada, three games to none, in the opening round of play at the Kiva Club Open.
     Haycocks, an Englishman, is the tournament’s No. 1 seed and is ranked No. 88 in the world. He controlled the T from the beginning, forcing Salaiz Estrada to hit risky drop shots and lobs. The match lasted just 30 minutes, and the game scores were 11-4, 11-3 and 11-5.
     Salaiz Estrada, who is from Mexico, is World No. 303. He currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona. This is his second run at Kiva Open. He played valiantly, chasing balls all over the court, but he couldn’t overcome Haycocks’s consistency and experience.
    The 32-year-old Haycocks is the one of the oldest players entered in the tournament. Salaiz Estrada is 30 years old.
 
1 PM Babatunde Ajagbe, a 29-year-old Nigerian, narrowly beat 16-year-old Leonel Cardenas of Mexico in a five-game, hour-long match.
     The game scores were 8-11, 11-7, 3-11, 12-10 and 11-9.
     Early on, both players worked the other’s backhand, but in the fourth game, they started hitting more cross-courts and the match became increasing contentious with the players bumping, jostling, and asking for lets. The fourth game lasted nearly 20 minutes.
      Midway through the fifth game, with the score tied, 6-6, Ajagbe hit Cardenas with a backhand from the back of the court. Cardenas argued for a let, with Ajagbe apologizing for hitting him.
       “Sorry,” said Ajagbe, gesturing that the strike was unintentional.
       “Do you want to play a let,” asked the referee, David Foley.
     “No, no,” said Ajagbe, “it was a stroke.”
     The players traded points through the rest of the game, but Ajagbe got the last two and reached 11 first.
     The stocky Cardenas looks older than his 16 years. He was not seeded in the tournament and is ranked World No. 403.
     Ajagbe is ranked World No. 184. This is his second time playing in the Kiva Open.
 
2 PM:  Charlie Lee, an 18-year-old Englishman, took Noah Browne of Bermuda in three quick games in a first-round match at the Kiva Open in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
     The game scores were 11-9, 11-7 and 11-6.
     Lee, ranked World No. 187, is the tournament’s No. 8 seed.
     Browne is a towering 6-feet, 4-inches tall, while Lee is 5-foot, 10-inches tall. Browne is 198 pounds, Lee 132. The two players found themselves in several tangles, but the fleet-footed Lee usually extricated himself for a winning shot.
     The 23-year-old Browne is ranked World No. 287.
 
3 PM It took Reuben Phillips three long games to beat Adrian Leanza. With the exception of the second game, the game scores seem lopsided – 11-3, 12-10, 11-3 – but the match was full of long rallies with Leanza stretching Phillips at every opportunity. The match lasted about 45 minutes.
     After the first game, which Phillips dominated, Leanza seemed to find himself, playing more confidently and aggressively, running the court, fetching balls and extending every point.
    Phillips, a 24-year-old Englishman, is the tournament’s No. 3 seed and ranked World No. 147. Leanza is an American who lives in Denver, Colorado. The 27-year-old is ranked World No. 444.
 
4 PM Edgar Zayas handled Nick Talbott in three quick and decisive games. The game scores were 11-9, 11-5 and 11-5.
     Talbott seemed to tire half way through the second game, and Zayas won points in bunches – four in a row, then three in a row. His winning pace accelerated in the third game, when he won six in a row, followed by three in a row to close the match.
     Zayas, a 21-year-old Mexican, is the tournament’s No. 4 seed and ranked World No. 147.
     Talbott, who is 23, lives in Palo Alto, California. (If the name Talbott sounds familiar, it is because Talbott’s father, Mark Talbott was the No. 1 hardball singles squash player from 1983 to 1995.)
 
5 PM Alex Ingham upset No. 6 seed Diego Gobbi. Ingham, a 26-year-old Englishman, won in three straight games, 11-7, 11-3 and 11-4. The match took just 30 minutes.
     Gobbi, a 21-year-old Brazilian, is ranked No. 183 in the world. Ingham is ranked No. 388.
     Ingham is a lefthander, and Gobbi kept the ball on his forehand side, playing against Ingham’s backhand. The strategy didn’t work. Ingham chased down almost everything Gobbi hit.
 
6 PM American Dylan Cunningham beat Scotland’s Jon Geekie, 3-0. Game scores were 11-3, 11-7 and 11-8.
     Cunningham jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first game, and never looked back. In the second game, he had runs of four and five points in a row.
     In the final game, Geekie held even at 6-6 and then pulled ahead 8-6. But then Cunningham ran off the next five points to win the game and the match.
     Cunningham covers a lot of the court merely by being on it. The lanky American is 6-foot-4 and weighs 181 pounds. The 22-year-old Cunningham is seeded No. 5 in the tournament and his world rank is No. 179.
     Geekie, from Scotland, also is a sizable fellow, standing 6-foot-1. The 26-year-old lefthander is ranked No. 200 in the world.
     This is both players’ second time at the Kiva Open.
 
7 PM: In a battle of master and pupil, the pupil prevailed. Adam Murrills beat Drewe Williams, 3-0.
     The match was a crowd favorite, because the 38-year-old Williams is the Kiva Club’s resident squash pro. He was granted a slot in the draw when another player dropped out at the last minute.
     The match also had an added dimension:  Williams, who grew up in Chester, England, coached Murrills when the 26-year-old Murrills was a junior player in England.
      “I guess I taught him too well,” said Williams after the match. The games scores were 11-4, 11-7 and 11-7.
     Murrills is the tournament’s No. 2 seed and is ranked World No. 113.

     Professional play resumes at noon on Friday. The finals match is noon Sunday.