Alberta and Saskatchewan Capture Canadian Team Titles; Junior Doubles Champions Crowned
by Danny Da Costa

Ottawa, Ontario (January 13, 2014) — The 2014 calendar year started off with a busy weekend on the Squash Canada national events schedule. Three Championships were held January 10-12, 2014 across the country – the Canadian Women’s Team Championships in Regina, the Canadian Men’s Team Championships in Winnipeg, and the Canadian Junior Doubles Championships in Toronto.

Action started on Friday in Regina for the 2014 Canadian Women’s Team Championships. Tournament hosts Team Saskatchewan, comprised of Nikki Todd, Jaycee Spagrud and Carla Dyck, were looking to improve on their silver medal from last year’s event and went into the tournament as the favourites and the top seed. The round robin format gave each of the six teams, featuring the top three players representing their province, an opportunity to face off against each other in best of three encounters. Saskatchewan sealed their gold medal with a 2-1 win over Alberta on Saturday night to keep their play undefeated to that point.

Despite the gold already determined, Sunday still provided some exciting squash for those in attendance at Gold’s Gym Regina South, the host club for the event. The defending champions from Ontario were able to end their weekend strong with a win over the gold medalists Saskatchewan, though their earlier losses in the event kept them out of medal contention. Quebec and Alberta battled right down to the last game to determine the silver and bronze medalists, with Quebec taking the encounter and silver medal in the fifth game of the third match.

At the Winnipeg Squash Racquets Club in Manitoba, eight teams of three men were battling for their own title at the 2014 Canadian Men’s Team Championships. The matches carried out in a draw format, and ended with top seeded Ontario facing off against second seeded Alberta in the final, and seeds three and four, Quebec and Manitoba respectively, battling for the bronze. The defending champions from Quebec were able to fight off the tough host team from Manitoba, winning the encounter 2-1 and maintaining their spot on the podium.

Team Alberta, featuring returning players Andrew and Graeme Schnell and first time Men’s Team participant Tyler Lee, were looking to find their way back to the top, after capturing the Team title in 2012 and settling for bronze in 2013. The Gold Medal encounter against Ontario started off with an opening match win by Graeme Schnell, 3-0 over Ontario’s Mike McCue. Younger brother Andrew was next on court, taking on fellow National Team member and rival Dane Sharp. Sharp went up two games in the match, but Schnell battled back to win the next three games and the gold for Alberta.

Lots of doubles squash action was also taking place this weekend, as the 3rd annual Canadian Junior Doubles Squash Championships were held at the Granite Club in Toronto, ON. Over 35 teams of junior-aged athletes participated in the event in seven age categories. Notable Champions included the team of Josh Hollings and Ben Pitfield in the Boys U19 division, and Lindsay Kuracina and Danica Deverill, who improved on their silver medal in 2013 to take this year’s Girls U17 title.

For full event results, visit http://squash.ca/en/events.