Bottle Drive Going Strong

WSF Bottle Drive is picking up a lot of steam.  You may (or may not) have noticed all the bottles piling up in the front room as you enter the club.  The drive has been extended one more week for anyone who wants to donate bottles.  Only wine and beer bottles will be accepted.  Thanks for your support

Gold #3- National Squash Academy

     11 of our juniors, plus adopted Windsorites, Rily Bore (Sarnia), Gabe VanMorsel (Chatham), Natasha Pensler (USA) participated this weekend in Gold #3 at the National Squash Academy. Unfortunately, high school exams kept many of our juniors out of this tournament.  This was also David Morrish's first tournament with our juniors.  I know he was very impressed with their conduct this weekend.
     It was a great weekend of squash as our juniors continued to improve at these events.  On Friday night, our juniors played very tough and were losing in 5 games to players that beat them in 3 or 4 games in the past.  A number of opponents and parents commented on how much improvement our players have made in just a couple of months.
    Saturday saw some incredibly intense squash.  Berto Mill was typical Berto, diving all over the court and making his opponents suffer with his incredible retrieving.  He also had the rally of the weekend that saw him dive, play his next shot from his bum and get up to win the rally.  Maanav made an incredible comeback after being down 7-0 in game 5 to win his match.  Mackenzie made every rally tough on her opponents.  Vishaal had some incredibly long rallies with the top seeded player in his division.  Natasha Pensler, playing up a division, played a great match in beating one on the tougher players in her draw.  Luca Dalla Bona played by far some of the best squash he has ever played.  He played a smart game and worked his opponents all over the court and clearly has jumped to the next level.

   Come Sunday, Ananya, Hannah, Vishaal, Maanav, David, Natasha, Gabe, Riley were all still playing. At the end of the day, Hannah won the Bronze division and David won the consolation. Ananya won her 3rd Gold tournament.  Ananya continued her dominance despite making a concerted effort to transition to one-handed play.  She looks stronger than ever!
    Draws can be find here.  Pictures from the weekend can be found here.

Nick Matthew/Ryan Cuskelly Exhibition

     Tuesday night Windsor Squash and Fitness was treated to the best squash it has ever seen (other than Wednesday nights Wilbur vs. Leavitt) as Nick Matthew (#3 in world) and Ryan Cuskelly (#16) came to town.  The evening started off with Nick and Ryan working with the juniors and discussing their favourite shots.  Then it was onto the court to work on those favourite shots.  Nick and Ryan helped feed and offer advice.
      After drilling for a bit, games of cutthroat began with Ryan and Nick mixing in.  All the juniors got an opportunity to rally with each of the guys.  Maxi took full advantage of this when he taxied Nick on a beautiful crosscourt.  It was great to see Ryan and Nick having so much fun with the juniors.  Graeme noted that it was the most intensity he has seen from them in a while.  
      Soon the sponsors arrived to play their games against the pros.  Darin Peterson, Derek Moore (London), Ty Stacyszyn, Amin and Sara Khan all got the opportunity to take on Nick Matthew.  Hannah Guthrie (courtesy of David Scarfone), Peter Urdell (London), Jody Brown and Mark Eugeni all took on Ryan.  While there were many entertaining rallies by all, it is safe to say that Ryan and Nick's world rankings are safe for now.

      After that it was time for the big event of the night.  Ryan vs. Nick.  We had a packed house and there was no extra viewing space at all.  The match had great rallies with amazing nicks and trick shots.  However, the players encountered something they have probably never seen before.... a streaker.  Yes, one unnamed Chatham individual decided that the match wasn't entertaining enough so he stripped down to his skivvies and streaked on the court.  No attempt was made by security (or anyone else) to bring him down.  If you want to see the full, unedited video you need to follow us on Twitter (@wsfjuniorsquash).
     After the match both guys were kind enough to do a Q & A and sign autographs.  All in all it was a great night for Windsor Squash.   I have posted photos here and if you could, email me so I can add yours to our collection.  It would be nice to have a nice collection of photos from the night.  If not, follow us on Instagram (windsorsquashandfitness) or check out snapd windsor.

Gary Waite Tour- Windsor

 

Gary Waite Tour Winners

  On Sunday, 32 juniors from around Southwestern Ontario gathered to take part in the 4th stop on the Gary Waite Junior Tour.  The Gary Waite Junior Tour is designed for up and coming squash players to experience what squash tournaments are like and to get some competitive experience.  Most of our experienced juniors played on the Gary Waite Tour before moving on to the next level of tournaments.  On Sunday, there was much amazing play from the youngest (under 10) division to the oldest (over 14) division.  Sebastian Stojanov, the youngest competitor, hung tough with the older kids and showed much improvement in his game.  Colin Moore is becoming a tour veteran and his improved backhand was in fine form.  Dylan Charles proved that hockey doesn't throw off his squash game.   Most importantly is seemed that everyone had a great time.  Follow us on Twitter @WSFJuniorsquash and Instagram @windsorsquashandfitness

Over 14                                                    

Champion- Aparna Maheshwari (Windsor)
Runner-Up- Hunter Gowan (London)
Grinner- Colin Moore (Windsor)

11-13                                                  

Champion- Sujai Shah (London)
Runner-Up- Rajan Sandhu (Windsor)
Grinner- Emily Guthrie (Windsor)

Under 11                                                    

Champion- Carter Furmanek (Windsor)
Runner-Up- Subhan Shabaz (Windsor)
Consolation- Serena Marcon Windsor)


   

UK Racquetball/ David Morrish

Saturday was a busy day at the club.  For starters it was our new assistant pro, David Morrish's first day at work.  And what a tough first day it was.  At noon it was "Bring a Friend" Day to squash and apparently our juniors have many friends.  Over 30 newcomers came out to try the game and a number of them immediately signed on to play more.
     Immediately after that, over 20 adults members came out to experience UK racquetball.  For those of you that don't know, UK racquetball is very much like squash only you play with a racquetball and racquetball racquets.  You wouldn't think that is would be that much different but surprisingly it was.  This is a great game for anyone looking to continue playing squash but not at as a physically demanding level.  The other great thing about UK racquetball is that players of two vastly different squash
abilities can still be competitive with each other.  In the end, Andrew Little walked away with a new UK Racquetball racquet.  Thanks to Dave for showing us this game.
    Be sure to stop by and say hi to Dave when you are in.

Softball Doubles Tournament

     On Saturday afternoon 16 squash players competed in the 2nd annual softball doubles tournament.   Softball doubles is played with a softball on a singles court.  That may sound crowded but you would be surprised how much room there is.  Here is a video on softball doubles.  Keep in mind that this is being played on an actual softball doubles court.
     It was a very eclectic collection that gathered to compete for the $80.  On paper it appeared the favourite teams were Kabir Bhangoo/Ryan Guthrie & Graeme/Phil Dimitrov.  Matches were very close and no one team was dominating.  The semi finals saw Dalla Bona squared play Guthrie/Furmanek.  On paper the team of Craig Guthrie/Stan Furmanek didn't put fear into anyone.  However, once they stepped on the court the magic began.  After shaking off the rust in the first few games, Furmanek caught fire, hitting winners all ofter the place.  It was too much for the Dalla Bonas and they were relegated to the 3/4 game.  On the other side of the draw, Willams/Dimitrov took on Obremk/Demarco.  Obremk/Demarco are crafty veterans of softball doubles and were too much for Graeme/Dimitrov to handle.
     The finals were a rematch of the first match of the night in which Obremk/Demarco dominated Guthrie/Furmanek.  However the finals were a different story.  It was clear to all the spectators in attendance that all the squash during the afternoon had taken a toll on Obremk/Demarco's fitness levels.  Guthrie/Furmanek appeared to get younger as the day went on.  In the end, Guthrie/Furmanek took the match 2-0.
     All in all, it was a fun day of squash and everyone is already looking forward to the next tournament.

Canadian Junior Open

     294 of the best juniors from all around the world descended upon White Oaks this weekend.  The calibre of squash was so high it made a typical Ontario Gold event look like a mid-summer training session.  Players that have dominated the Ontario circuit were suddenly struggling with these new players.  12 of our juniors set out to match their skills with the rest of the world.  After the first round, only Stefan Houbtchev (still technically our junior playing in his last junior tournament), Berto Mill and Natasha Pensler remained in the main round.  That said, everyone of our juniors played strong and were able to stay in many rallies.
    In the consolation round we started to find some more success.  Sara Khan, Amin Khan, David Mill, won and advanced to the next round in the consolation.  Stefan was defeated in the second round of the main draw and ended up playing his old training partner, David Mill, in the next round.
    As the tournament headed toward Tuesday, less of our juniors remained in the draws.  Stefan was forced to withdraw in the 4th round of the consolation due to an injury.  Aparna and Ananya met each other in a sister showdown in the finals of the Bronze draw with Aparna winning it in the end.  But the highlight for Windsor Squash was Natasha Pensler.  Although Natasha lives in the states she has been coming to Windsor to train with our juniors.  Natasha lost in the finals of the U13 to a fellow American.  Well done Natasha!
    Despite being a very long weekend, the juniors gained a lot of experience playing, watching and listening on how to be successful at such a high level.  Complete draws can be found here.  Follow them on Instagram @ windsorsquashandfitness