Ontario Junior Closed

     This past weekend 10 of the WSF juniors competed in the BMO Nesbitt Burns Ontario Closed tournament.  This is one of the biggest tournaments in Ontario as it counts for points to make Team Ontario at the Canadian Winter Games.  In other words, the best players came out including those that are playing on University teams. 
     The highlight of the weekend was Ananya Maheshwari.  Ananya was seeded 2nd in the U15 draw but her first round opponent pushed her to a tough game 5 which Ananya was able to win.  After that, there was no looking back for Ananya as she end up defeating the #1 seed in 4 games, making her the U15 Ontario Champ.
      Our other highlight was Amin Khan.  Amin was coming off a win at our tournament and came into this tournament seeded #3.  Unfortunately, Amin couldn't beat a hot Dylan Deverill as he did in the last tournament.  However, Amin went on the win the bronze medal in the U17 draw.
     Other highlights from the weekend include our newly-adopted Phil Shillington.  If you haven't met Phil yet, he is a co-op student from Ottawa who has been helping out Graeme and Dave.  Phil is relatively new to the Gold scene, coming off a recent victory in a Silver tournament.  Phil ended up playing on Sunday in the Bronze division final.  Phil quickly went down 2-0.  However, he snuck out games 3 & 4, pushing the match to a game 5.  Phil ran out to a 9-2 lead, only to have his opponent tie the match at 10-10.  They went back and forth for many points until Phil finally emerged with a 14-12 victory.
     Jagroop Bhangoo and Hannah Guthrie both played stellar by beating higher seeds in the their draws.  Jagroop lost in a very tough consolation semi-final match.  Hannah shook off one of her nemesis and won the Bronze division. 
     Vishaal Mehta continued his improved play and also took home the Bronze division crown.  Usman continued to give all his opponents tough matches and never going down without a fight.  Sara Khan drew top seeds early on but played them tough.  Luca Dalla Bona made his return to provincial level squash and played like he never left.  Complete draws can be found here.  Next up, the Canadian Open at White Oaks.

Windsor U15 at RTC Cup

     This weekend 7 of Windsor's top U15 players took part in the inaugural Round Table Cup at Mayfair Lakeshore.  This team tournament was open to all clubs in Ontario and the intent was to get the province's top U15 players together for some meaningful matches and, of course, crown the top club!  8 of Ontario's most prominent club were up for the challenge.  Windsor Squash and Fitness team consisted of, Imola Nagy, Ananya Maheshwari, Carter Furmanek, Dylan Charles, Vishaal Mehta, Gavin Chamandy and Gabe VanMorsel coached by Dave Morrish.
     Windsor cruised through the first two rounds barely dropping a match.  In the semi-finals they came up against a very strong Mayfair Lakeshore team.  WSF managed to squeak through with a very tight 4-3 win, putting them in the finals verse the #1 seed, Ontario Racquet Club.  First up was Imola Nagy.  Imola's game has been coming on strong and she showed this weekend she was ready to take the next step in her game.  She played a strong match, hitting great shots and moving her opponent around the court.  Unfortunately, her opponent was a veteran of many high level squash tournaments and he was able to hang around and take the match. 
      There was no concern on the WSF team because Gavin was up next.  Gavin has really picked up his game and he was very steady on the court thus far.  Gavin continued his great play with amazing retrieving and shot-making and tied up the match 1-1.   Next up was Dylan.  Dylan came out firing Game 1 and put on a brilliant display of steady, error-free play and easily won game 1.  Dylan's opponent wasn't going down without a fight and Game 2 could have gone either way.  A couple of great shots by his opponent allowed him to take Game 2.  Game 3 & 4 were equally tight but Dylan just could not pull through.  ORC 2, WSF 1.
     Next up was Carter.  Carter had plenty of opportunities to win game 1 with 3 game balls.  A couple of bad bounces caused Carter to lose Game 1.  The rest of the match was equally tight.  Either player could have won this match but ORC took the win, 3-1.  While this was going on, Gabe was also battling it out on the court next door.  Gabe put up a fierce battle against a very tough opponent and he couldn't put a stop the ORC wave.  This meant that mathematically, WSF couldn't win.  That didn't stop Ananya and Vishaal playing for pride and make this a closer match.  In the end, ORC was too strong, winning the tournament 6-1.  However, Windsor did amazing finishing 2nd out of 8 and finishing higher than their seed.  Well done team!

Ciena Healthcare Gold #2

   Windsor Squash and Fitness was the second stop on the Ontario Gold circuit and 95 of Ontario's best squash players made their way to Windsor.  For some of Windsor's newer juniors, this was their introduction to high-level tournament play.  For others, they were looking to continue to move up the rankings and improve their play. 
     Friday and Saturday saw some amazing squash.  Top-seeded Ananya Maheshwari moved on in her round-robin after playing a tough 5-gamer.   Amin Khan (#4 seed) upset the #1 seed in 4 games.  Vishaal Mehta and Jagroop Bhangoo cruised through the consolation draws. 
     Saturday night was the Ciena Healthcare sponsored dinner.  Windsor is the only tournament that puts on a dinner/banquet for all its participants.  The highlight of the night is the iPhone draw for the players, courtesy of Ciena Healthcare.  How appropriate that Phil Shillington (Dave's co-op student) won a phone given that he just dropped and broke his this week. 
     Sunday was finals day for all the draws/division.  Without a doubt, the most anticipated match of the day was Amin's.  Amin was out to revenge his loss to Daniel Malik in the last tournament.  Today was Amin's day as he rode the home crowd support to take the U17 title in 5 games.  Well done Amin!
     Not to be overlooked was another important match.  Ananya was in the U15 finals on the court next door.  Windsorites were torn about what match to watch.  Ananya's match also went 5 games and game 5 was only separated by a couple of points.  Unfortunately Ananya couldn't pull out game 5.  Ananya's play showed us that she is going to be a tough competitor in future tournaments. 
     Other notables from the weekend.  Jagroop had a really strong tournament by winning the consolation.  Vishaal stepped up his game and making it to the consolation finals.  Nathan Brockenshire showed that he is ready to compete in Ontario Golds. 
     Once again, the Windsor community stepped up and helped make this event the best junior tournament in Ontario.  Many compliments were given by out of towners about WSF hospitality and the greater community.  Thank you Anis for sponsoring this event and making it the great tournament it is.  Thank you to Graeme and Dave for running a very smooth tournament.  Thank you to the junior committee for all of your work behind the scenes. 
    Pictures of the event (courtesy of Iris and Isobel) can be found here.  Complete draws can be found here.
   

World Masters, Final Day

     This is it.  A week of world class squash (not by us of course) comes to a close.  In our finals matches, Trevor played off for 5th place in his division and won 3-1
      Dave finished off the week on a very positive note.  Dave was playing the Canadian 50+ masters champs, Trent Haase.  However, Dave never let Trent get comfortable during the match.  Dave kept Trent on his heels and used his arrays of shots to frustrate him.  Despite Dave's 3-0 win, it was a hard-fought victory.  Dave ended up in 13th place.  Well done Dave!

Highlights from the week

Craig

1.  Meeting so many squash people from around the world
2.  Winning an international match
3.  Corrupting Jay

Al

1.  Meeting like-minded individuals from around the world
2.  Playing on Day 6 of an international tournament
3.  Realizing Cheetos were a vegetarian source of protein

Dave

1.  Catching up with old friends
2.  Reaching final 16
3.  Hanging out with WSF guys

Jay

1.  Interacting with so many friendly people
2.  Meeting former top players in the world
3.  Hanging out with WSF guys

Trevor

1.  Catching up with great players from the past
2.  Creating new friendships
3.  Doing everyone's laundry :)

Thank you Charlottesville for being a great host and putting on a first class event.  Photos of the week can be found here (well, some of them :))

World Masters, Day 6

    As we approach the final days of the tournament we have a guest blogger for today.  Yes, Mr. Boast himself can actually write......

     Today started off as it usually does with the clattering of pots and pans in the kitchen followed by the shrill of Dave Morrish’s voice through the walls of our tiny apartment as he and Trevor (our newfound room-mate and Morrish’s buddy from South Africa and former world #22) reminisce in great detail about a match they played back in 1984.  The juniors would recognize this voice which similarly echoes through the triple thick pane glass squash court walls at Windsor Squash & Fitness. Craig lays there motionless on his blowup mattress in the living room with a pillow over his head seemingly i’m assuming for the dual purpose of comfort and/or a noise barrier. Today’s bonus discussion was how Dave ordered too much food at dinner last night but that problem was easily solved as Trevor quickly woofed down his vegetarian ravioli when we met him back at the apartment last night. Trevor‘s timing was right as Jay didn’t have an opportunity to take advantage of this rare opening of uneaten food and had to settle for his normal bowl of twigs sprigs and sprouts which includes some magic potion to keep him so young looking. He must have forgotten that the corn he boiled three days ago is still sitting in the same water in the pot on the stove. Having said that some may not recognize him as the picture of health as he discovered Cheetos on this trip and Craig and i are still trying to figure out how we’ve gone through 4 bags and need to go to Kroger for reinforcement.  Yours truly is sitting in bed writing this blog as we speak and waiting for the dust to settle before Dave, Jay and Trevor head out the door to the club. Only matches today include Trevor at 12:30 PM and Al at 1 PM. I am considering going into the kitchen to make breakfast but see a motionless Craig in the fetal position out there taking advantage of the peace and quiet. I’ll give him a few more minutes of R.E.M time before making my move. Even if I did happen to wake him up we all know that Craig is a team player and not a complainer. He’ll have to get up soon and visit the “loo” soon, as Dave would say anyway.

     First up was Trevor.  As Al mentioned Trevor is a world-class squash player but today he was feeling the effects of his previous match against previous master's winner, Willie Hosey.  Trevor came out flat today against a sharp-shooting Dominic Hughes from the USA and put an end to his tournament.

     Next up, our guest blogger.  Al was playing a guy that was born in Windsor and now lives in Waterloo (now he has a game when he travels).  His opponent was deceiving in warmups and it looked like this was going to be an easy win for Al.   However, once the match started his opponent turned it on hitting winner after winner.  Al had his chances to win and was slowly tiring out his opponent.  Unfortunately, Al needed to get a game win to extend the match and probably get the win and that didn't happen.  Congratulations Al on a great tournament and exceeding your tournament expectations.   

     Today was semi-finals day and the matches were incredible.  Dave Morrish was the guest commentary on Alistair Walker's match.  You can listen to Dave here (with a big shout out to Windsor Squash) and decide if Dave has a potential second career.  

Live streaming can be found here. 
Complete draws can be found here.

World Squash Masters, Day 4 & 5

Wednesday

     Today didn't get off to a great start for Windsor.  While Al did earn his second win of the tournament by playing his best game yet as he won over a French player named Default.  It was an amazing match as Al couldn't miss and his opponent had no answer.  So Al moves on to the next round with his "victory".
     Craig, on the other hand, had a really tough match against a true frenchman from Quebec.  Oddly enough, Dave used to give him lessons when he was in Ottawa.  However, the advice Dave gave Craig was clearly the wrong advice as his opponent took him down in 3 games ending Craig's tournament.
      Next up was Windsor's golden jewel of this tournament, Dave,  and wouldn't you know it, he was playing on the show court so you can see his match here.  Dave came up against a South African player, Mike Tootill, that Dave used to play against on the Tour.  He beat him once once on tour but Tootill's game really took off in his later years and Dave knew that he would have his hands full today.  Dave prediction came true as he went down 3-0.  However, that didn't stop Dave from making highlight reel shots and keeping his opponent guessing.  Congratulations Dave for making into the round of 16, no small feat when there are 128 players in your draw.  If you want to watch his match, you can find it here.

Thursday

      Well, today got off to a rough start thanks to a US Squash sponsored party :).  First up was Al, who was playing the owner of Squash Gear.com and drinking water last night.  Al got off to a very rough start and didn't wake up until the end of Game 1 when he turned it on to squeeze out Game 1.  After that game there was no looking back and Al earned a 3-0 victory.
      Next up was Dave at 7:00, no wait, make that 1:30.  Apparently Dave is just learning how to read a draw.  Dave was feeling the effects of his previous matches and clearly didn't have it today, losing to a strong player from Ireland.  Fortunately for Dave he has a day off until his next round.

Here is a news story the local CBS ran on the tournament.

Live streaming can be found here. 
Complete draws can be found here.

World Squash Masters, Day 2 & 3

Monday 

      Everyone had a "rest" day (it is masters squash) except for Dave.  Dave was up bright and early ready for the match.  Yes, our apartment reeked of Tiger Balm.  When he hit the court there was a bounce to his step.  As the match progressed, Dave floated around the court and hit deceptive shots that kept his opponent on his heels.  Dave cruised to a 3-0 victory and gave Windsor its first win.  Everyone is back on court Tuesday.

Tuesday

     This was looking to be a long day was each one of us were scheduled to play an hour apart from one another.  First up was Jay. In game 1, Jay had some trouble adjusting to his Irish opponents shot-making and lost game one.  In game 2 Jay adjusted and began to move his opponent around the court and almost took game 2.  In the end Jay went down in 3 and moved on the Plate 2 round later in the day. 
     Next up was Al.  He drew a hard-hitting lefty from Australia.  Al struggled to find any momentum in this match.  His opponent kept him off-balance with his kills and deadly serve.  By the time Al figured out his opponents game the match was over, relegating Al to the Plate 2 also.
     Next on the schedule was Craig.  Craig drew a former professional hardball player and a member of the McArthur Squash Club(check it out).  Craig jumped out to a 2-0 lead by playing steady and keeping his opponent under pressure.  Despite a little blip in game 4, he held on for his first World Masters win and advanced to the round of 16 in the consolation draw.  More importantly, it meant he didn't have to play again that day giving him some valuable rest. 

      Dave was looking to continue his hot play from yesterday and he did just that.  He continued with that bounce in his game and once again relied on keeping his opponent on his heels with his deception.  Dave cruised to a 3-0 win to move to the round of 16.  Unfortunately Dave has now come up against the #1 seed, one of the top 50+ players in the world and an old training partner of Dave's. 
      Jay was then up with his second match of the day and was starting to feel the effects of the tournament.  Jay was up against a crafty Irishmen that could shoot from anywhere on the court but struggled to get around the court.  Jay moved him around and hit many winners but the Irishmen kept just hanging around and Jay just couldn't put him away marking the end of Jay's tournament.  One of the most amazing thing about Jay this week is that this was his first tournament ever!  Way to start big Jay!
     Al was still searching for his first win of the tournament and not rely on Craig and Dave to supply all of Windsor's wins.  Al finally got his game going with lots of boasts and good length and easily won 3-0. 

Live streaming can be found here. 
Complete draws can be found here.