Provincial Championships

   This weekend wrapped up the Ontario Gold season.  The provincial championships brought the best players to WhiteOaks for the weekend and 11 Windsor players competed in this event.  The highlight of the weekend was the Saturday night banquet in which players and parents listened to an inspirational speech by Olympic swimmer Martha McCabe.  Her dedication to her sport and dealing with failure was a great message to Ontario squash players that success cannot be achieved without perseverance, total dedication and hard work.
     But the highlight of the night was Dave Morrish winning Coach of the Year.  This is an amazing honour, especially since Graeme won this same award last year.  It really speaks to the dedication of these two and the fact that they have put Windsor on the map as the place to be for squash.  Dave was recognized for his dedication to the sport and for the development of Windsor's players.  Dave had no clue that he had even been nominated.  When put on the spot to give a speech, something that Dave dreads, he came through.  He gave a very emotional speech about how after years of traveling around, he has finally found a home in Windsor and in Canada.  Dave, you did such a great job you have been nominated as official MC at all future Windsor events.  If you want to hear Dave's speech, you can find it here.
     Windsor wasn't done with the honours though.  Hannah Guthrie won the girls Most Improved Player of the Year.  Hannah has shown much dedication to squash by working hard with her coaches and training on and off the court.  This resulted in numerous wins this year over players with a higher ranking.  Hannah has proven to be a tough match for whoever she gets on the court with.
     As for the tournament, Ananya completed her domination of the girls U13 draw this year, by winning the U13 draw.  Ananya went through the entire season losing only a few matches.  Well done Ananya!
     The other highlight of the weekend was the stellar play of Jagroop Bhangoo.  Jagroop lost his first round in a very tough match but he went on to play great in the consolation draw and eventually winning that draw.  Well done Jagroop!
     All in all this has been a very successful season.  Windsor players are always tough to contend with and while they may not win their respective draws, their play and behaviour on the court leaves a lasting impression with their opponents.  As the season progresses many players who may have been dominate in their age group age out of that division and suddenly become the youngest player in their new division, playing players that may be 2 years older than them.  Congratulation to Graeme and Dave and all the players from Windsor that competed this year in the highest level of squash.  Great things still to come.
     Pictures can be found here.  Draws can be found here.

Ontario Junior Provincial Championships

This weekend 8 of our juniors (plus Graeme and Craig) from the Southwestern Ontario region headed up to Ottawa to participate in the Ontario Junior Provincial Championships.

GU13- Aparna Maheshwari                    BU13- Vishaal Mehta
GU15- Mackenzie Elliott                         BU15- Riley Bore
GU17- Hope Hengsberger                      BU17- Berto Mill
GU19- Hannah Guthrie                           BU19- David Mill

       For much of our team, this was their first time competing in a team tournament.  After a long day of travel on Friday, we hopped right off the train and onto the courts.  The first part of the tournament consists of round robin play.  We were in Pool B against Niagara, Eastern Ontario and Ottawa.  Unfortunately, our first round was against Niagara, always one of the strongest teams.  We got off to a great start with Aparna winning the first match.  However, we didn't get another win until David Mill and ended up losing 6-2.
 

       Now that first round nerves were out of the way, we played Eastern Ontario.  In this round we played very well with Vishaal, Aparna, Mackenzie, Riley, Berto and David all pulling out victories.  Vishaal had a great comeback after going down 2-0 to his opponent.  Vishaal played steady, mistake free squash to win it in 5.  Mackenzie played possibly her best tournament match ever, winning 3-0.  Southwest 6-2.
       We had to beat our next round opponent (Ottawa) to advance to the main round.  While all the matches were very close, we couldn't seem to pull out the close games nor the game fives when we needed.  We ended up losing 6-2 and headed off to the consolation round.
       Our first opponent was Eastern Ontario again.  We didn't have the same kind of success as the first time we played them.  However, we pulled out a 5-3 win to end Saturday and leave us with a showdown with Western Ontario for 5th place.
       With so many players (and coaches) in Ottawa for the first time, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get out and experience an Ottawa winter night.  Our team joined the other teams and all the players went skating on the Rideau Canal.  After 2 hours of skating we then visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Parliament Hill.
 

       Sunday morning saw many tired players, coaches and parent chaperones at the breakfast table.  Our opponent for 5th place was Western Ontario (Barrie).  While we played very well, we lost a couple of close ones and Western defeated us 5-3.
     Our players represented us in a very positive manner.  They showed exemplary behaviour on and off the court.  Many spectators commented on their ability and their positiveness (I know, not a word) on the court.
     Aparna played great and was in many tight matches and provided us with much needed wins.  Mackenzie is quickly gaining experience in the provincial scene and her game improved as the weekend went on.  She also had her first win in a provincial tournament.  Hope is a newcomer to the squash scene but is getting better very quickly.  Not only was this her first tournament but only her second match ever.  She played every opponent tough and never gave up.  Hannah played out of her age division in the U19.  Due to the lack of female players we had to make strategic decision as to who was playing where.  Hannah was in every game and held her own in each match however, sheer age difference was too much to overcome.
      Vishaal played some great matches, coming back from a 2-0 deficit and provided the team with some much needed wins.  Riley is the one non-Windsor resident (Sarnia).  Riley played great and his steady demeanour on court was amazing to watch.  Berto was his usual entertaining self.  Berto literally left his blood and sweat on each court he played and those that watched couldn't help but be inspired by his effort.  David (our team captain) won all his matches and more importantly was there to support and help the rest of the team in their matches.
    The team would like to thank John Zuliani, Teresa Ashworth, the Gary Waite Tour, and Squash Ontario for their sponsorship.  We couldn't have done it without you.  Below is a link to the pictures of the trip.

Pictures of 2015 Provincial Championships