Squash Canada Names Pan-American Team by Danny Da Costa Ottawa, Ontario (July 3rd, 2013)
– The Men’s and Women’s teams who will be represent Canada at the
2013 Pan-American Championship, September 1st - 8th , in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, were announced today by the Squash Canada selection
committee . On the men’s side, Canada will be represented by Dane
Sharp, Graham Schnell, and David Letourneau. The Canadian women’s team
will be Samantha Cornett, Hollie Naughton, and Nikole Todd.
Leading the Canadian Women is Samantha Cornett of Ottawa. Samantha is
the newly crowned Canadian Squash Champion having won the title at the
2013 Senior National Championships in Markham, Ontario. Samantha, just
22 years old, is the Number 33 ranked squash player in the world and
has already represented Canada at numerous international events.
Samantha represented Canada at both the 2010 and 2012 Women’s World
Team Championships and at the 2011 Pan-American Games in Guadalajara,
Mexico. In Guadalajara, Samantha helped Canada win the team gold medal
while also taking home the silver medal in singles.
Hollie Naugton, of Oakville Ontario, is one of the most accomplished
junior squash players in the world. After rolling to the Canadian
Junior National Championship title in Richmond, British Columbia in
April, Naugthon, still just 18 years old, made a run to the semi-finals
at the Senior National Championships. Naughton followed up her domestic
success by winning Gold at the 2013 Junior Pan-American Championships
this June in Brazil by defeating the top three seeded players in the
draw. The 2013 Pan-Am Championships will be Naughton’s first time
representing Canada at the senior level; and likely not the last.
Nikole Todd of Regina, rounds at the Canadian women’s contingent at the
Pan-Am Championships. Nikole, even though she is only 22 years old, is
the teams elder statesman, punctuating the focus on youth the Canadian
selection committee took into account when making their decision.
Nikole, the 2012 Canadian University and College Women’s Champion is
coming off a successful year of squash which saw her win the bronze
medal at the 2013 Senior National Championships. A representative
of Canada in Lima Peru, for the 2008 Junior Pan-Am Championships, this
will also be Nikole’s first chance to compete for Canada on the senior
stage.
The men’s team will be led by 2013 Senior National Championship
runner-up, Dane Sharp, 27, of Toronto, Ontario. Ranked 84th in
the World, Dane is currently playing some of the best squash of his
career and just returned from Mulhouse, France, competing for Canada at
the pinnacle of world squash, the Men’s World Team Championships. Dane
will be looking to continue to build on this year’s momentum and help
the Canada team to a medal at the Pan-Am Championships.
David Letourneau like Dan Sharp, is just returning from wearing the
Maple Leaf at the 2013 Men’s World Team Championships in Mulhouse,
France. Letourneau, 24, of Calgary was a standout on the US collegiate
squash circuit. Widely recruited out of high school, David chose to
attend Princeton University in New Jersey. In his time at
Princeton, David was a four-time All-American honoree, as well as a
two-time Ivy League champion, and helped Princeton reach the National
finals on two separate occasions.
Graeme Schnell completes the Canadian roster for the 2013 Pan-Am
Championships. Schnell, 25, is from Calgary and is competing for Canada
internationally for the first time since the 2008 World University
Games in Cairo, Egypt, where Canada placed 4th overall. Graeme is
a titan of Canadian collegiate squash. Representing his hometown
University of Calgary, Graeme has won the last three Canadian
University and College Championships, and five of the last six overall,
setting the all-time record for wins at the event.
Coaching the squad for Canada will be Squash Canada’s performance
director, Jamie Hickox. Hickox played professional squash from
1982 through 1997, and was ranked among the Top 15 players on the
Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour. In 1993 Hickox
accepted the job as the Malaysian National Team Coach. Hickox
held that position until 1997, and then again from 2006 – 2010, before
accepting the Performance Director role at Squash Canada. In his time
as Malaysian National Team Coach, Hickox guided one of the strongest
squash programs in the world that featured world number one, Nicol
David.
The Pan-American Championships serve as a compliment to the quadrennial
Pan-American Games, with the Pan-Am Championships being held during the
three years of the four year cycle when the Pan-Am Games are not being
contested. The Pan-Am Squash Championships are open to men’s and
women’s squash players in North and South America, with nations
selecting three male and female athletes to represent them at the
event.
The 2013 Pan-Am Squash Championships will take place September 1st -
8th in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The competition will feature three
disciplines, singles, doubles, and team format. Canada,
which did not send a team to the previous edition of the Pan-American
Championships in 2012, will be looking to build on their 2010 results
from Guatemala City, where Canada won the silver medal in both men’s,
and women’s teams.
