Local squashers compete in Thunder Bay

The eighth-annual “Silver Fox” Master squash tournament, for those aged 35 and older, was held in Thunder Bay last weekend, which saw three ladies from the local Sunset Country Squash Club attend.
Donna Main, competing in the ‘D’ event, eventually lost to John Kolic of Thunder Bay by a score of 3-0 in a tie-breaker.
Main had opened with 3-1 wins over Lynda Roberts (Thunder Bay) and John Kolic Jr. (Thunder Bay), but then lost to Ian Johnstone (3-1) to put her into a three-way tie.
Kris Krag, playing in the ‘C’ event, lost 3-0 to Bruce Piercy (Winnipeg), then rebounded with a 3-0 win over Mike Missere (Thunder Bay). Her final match ended in a 3-1 loss to Barb Rees (Thunder Bay).
Meanwhile, Mary-Beth Tkachuk went on to capture the ‘C’ consolation crown.
After opening with a five-set loss to Steve Donaghy (Thunder Bay), she rebounded with a straight-sets win over Steve Boucher (Thunder Bay) and then 3-1 victories over Rick Delben and Rees.
A reminder the local ladies’ wind-up tourney, dubbed “No Sweat,” tentatively is scheduled for April 30 at the Memorial Sports Centre.
In other news, the inaugural Kenora-Fort Frances Junior Squash Challenge was held last weekend in Kenora, which created some history. For the first time, juniors from Fort Frances and Kenora played at the Kenora men’s squash facility.
The men from Kenora and Fort Frances have had a spring-fall challenge for 21 years and running, but never a mixed crowd of juniors.
The format was identical to the men’s series, with a total games count to victory (each player has three games against their opponent).
Fort Frances were victorious 36 games to 15. But with respect to Kenora, our juniors have had considerable more court time than them.
The history-makers from Fort Frances were Cole Derksen, Evan McCabe, Anniss Seid, Dustin Eyolfson, Samantha (“Sam”) Mueller, and John McCormack.
The Kenora pioneers included Joelle and Mitchell Thorgrimson, Eric Wetednorg, Bryan Canfield, Cass and Sam Chisolm, Meaghan and John Szajewski, Katie Holt (an Australian exchange student), and Ian Winter.
Congratulations to all who participated, and especially squash enthusiast Mark Norton of Kenora. The ball will drop this fall in Fort Frances for the next Fort Frances-Kenora junior challenge!