On Feb. 6, Masters alum Taha Dinana ‘20 clinched the squash Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship for The University of Virginia. Dinana had only six days of practice in the last month, due to a hamstring injury and testing positive for COVID-19. 

“With constant rehab, my leg got better but still not at 100% to compete. I talked to our sports medicine team and the coaches and told them how badly I wanted to play. They finally told me it was up to me,” he said.

Second seed UVA defeated first seed Drexel 5-4 in the Championship, but when Dinana arrived on court, his team was down 3-1 in the overall score. 

Dinana was tied 2-2 in his match when he said he noticed that the crowd was growing around his court.

“Before I went back in for the final game, I noticed our entire team was watching and the place was fully packed because we were tied 4-4 in overall score now,” he said. 

Dinana was down 9-7 in the final game, but won the next four points to secure the victory.

“Somehow, and I still don’t know how, I came back and won 11-9. That was, by far, the best feeling in the world as my teammates rushed the court,” he said.