Staff
The Sunset Country Squash Club sent 15 players to Thunder Bay over the weekend to battle at the Northwestern Ontario Open tournament.
Winners were from both ends of the spectrum, with veteran Mary-Beth Tkachuk capturing the ‘D’ title in round-robin play with five-straight wins.
Also in ‘D’ action was junior member Ryley Booth, who fared well in garnering three wins and two losses.
Heather Wright, competing in her first ‘D’ tourney in Thunder Bay, had four very competitive losses.
Evan Wright, meanwhile, reeled off four-straight victories in the junior ‘B’ division, including defeating fellow club member Hunter Jean 3-0 in the final.
Jean ended up finishing as the runner-up after two-straight wins over Thunder Bay-based players.
Competition in the junior ‘A’ division saw local Corbin Riches play well as he claimed third place with a 3-1 record.
Lane Booth and Aiden Jean ended their weekend with 1-2 and 1-3 records, respectively.
In the men’s ‘B/C’ consolation final, Bob Tkachuk lost 3-2 to end his weekend with a record of 2-2.
Scott Basaraba lost all three of his matches in the ‘B/C’ division to Thunder Bay-based players.
The higher levels of ‘B’ Open, ‘A,’ and ‘A’ Open were extremely difficult for the local players involved.
In the ‘B’ Open division, Jeff Wright had the best result with two wins and two losses. He nearly captured his third win in narrowly being defeated 3-2.
Mike Canfield compiled a 1-3 record in the ‘B’ Open division while Josh Councillor lost all three matches by identical scores of 3-2 to be on the wrong side of the ledger.
In the top divisions, Mark Faragher lost all four of his matches in the ‘A’ side.
His son, Chad Faragher, dropped three-straight competitive matches in the ‘A’ Open division.
The six juniors gained valuable experience under tourney pressure, learning how important it is to keep the ball to good length and tight to the walls.
Up next for the local club is the annual Boxing Day tournament.
That will be followed by the 32nd-annual La Place Rendez-Vous Open on Jan. 4-6, with both events being hosted at the squash courts at the Memorial Sports Centre.
Sign-up lists are posted in the bulletin board area.
