The Miracle in Minnesota
Chapman Wins Ninth National Singles Title
—Fridley, Minnesota. Dave Chapman celebrated his 36th birthday one day early
by defeating Sean Lenning for his ninth National singles title, 21-20, 21-13. Dave
had won his last Nationals in 2004, then after almost 4 years of retirement,
he returned to the top of the game only to lose the last two National finals to
Paul Brady. This year Brady was out with a broken finger, and Dave was seeded
number one. Still, it took him two tiebreakers, one over Tommy Little in the
quarters and one over Naty Jr. in the semis, to reach the final. Meanwhile,
Lenning had cruised to the final by crushing the ageless Danny Armijo and
soundly beating the usually tough Alan Garner.
Going into the final, Sean was the favorite and after scoring the first point,
Dave ran into an offensive juggernaut. Sean started fast, serving great, scurrying
around the court getting and killing everything, while Dave looked stiff and a
little sluggish. After seven innings, Sean was leading 13-3. But Dave was
loosening up and was increasingly able to force his tempo on Sean. Naturally,
Sean was looking to play a fast horizontal power game, but Dave kept taking the
game vertical or keeping Sean off balance with punch drives to the left.
Increasingly, the game was turning into a contest between Dave’s right and
Sean’s left, and Sean’s opportunities to use his power game were becoming fewer
and more difficult. Still, at 9-18 it seemed like the first game was all but over.
Changing up, Dave switched from his lob serve to a low hooking “power” serve
and scored 3 points, Sean got in and scored 1, Dave scored 3 again and Sean 1.
Early in this 6-2 run, in what may have been the decisive rally, Dave ran Sean
from right to left repeatedly without moving more than one step himself, and
while Sean made some incredible gets, Dave finally beat him with a paddle shot
that slid down the right wall. Perhaps, more important than winning the rally was
the impact it had on Sean who looked tired and appeared to have lost his edge.
Now at 15-20 Dave appeared to be in control of the game, but Sean only needed
one crack or one rollout for the win. It was the one point that never came. Sean
couldn’t find that last great serve and in rallies Dave’s defense was so good it
allowed him to play at the restraining line rather than the short line. The extra 5
feet makes him almost impossible to pass, and allowed Dave to use either a
punch to the ceiling or a punch pass down the left on Sean’s drives. Now the
game was almost exclusively a battle between Dave’s right and Sean’s left and
Dave increasingly put pressure on Sean to hit a great shot from deep left. Sean
skipped a few attempted kills and when he left it up Dave dived in and re-killed.
Sean seemed to be feeling the pressure of the situation a lot more than the
extraordinarily composed Chapman. On the two relatively tough chances Sean
got with his right, he skipped in the kill attempts. In all, Sean served 6 times at 20
and even though he had 8 service winners in getting to 18 he could not find one
more. At 17-20, Dave got a burst of energy and turned up the offense. Although
he lost the serve a couple more times before closing out the match he looked to
have all the momentum. He hit a couple flat kills down the stretch, and mixed his
lob serves with hooking power serves, and his hard overhand three-wall serve.
Dave’s offense was in full gear, and he was jumping on Sean mistakes to produce
winning shots. Finally, at 20-20, on a second serve, Dave used his hard three-
wall and Sean, going for too much, spiked it into the ground. The comeback, the
Miracle in Minnesota, was only half finished in games but its reality was palpable.
After watching Dave “pull a rabbit out of his hat”, most fans thought that
Sean had simply tightened up and should have won. But in truth, Dave had won
the first game by playing great defense and first strike offense. Most observers
fail to realize how much the pressure mounts when your opportunities are so
rare. In terms of shot-making, Dave’s second half accomplishment was not
complicated, he gave Sean virtually nothing good to hit and when Sean gave him
an opportunity he ended the rally with an astonishing variety of offensive shots.
How he stayed so composed from 9-18 to 21-20 is much harder to figure;
somehow he just doesn’t get rattled. Later, Dave would acknowledge he had
been “a little lucky” but it was his composure under pressure, his overall control
of the game’s style and tempo, along with the amazing accuracy of his shots,
which put him in position to come from way behind and win the first game.
Sean was both tired and demoralized in the second game and Dave never
let him get out of his funk. Leading early and all the way, Dave closed out the
second, 21-13, using the same strategy and control that won him the first. After
winning his ninth National title, Dave graciously acknowledged that Sean had
been “the best player of the tournament,” and noted how tough it is to win when
you’re in your first final. At 36, it seems that Dave has another 3 or 4 years left to
tie Naty’s record of eleven National titles. The first order of business, though, is to
beat Brady in the 2012 Nationals. If he can do that he should go down in history
as the greatest handball player of all time.
As reported by Gary Maushardt
