Staff
The Sunset Country Squash Club’s 29th-annual Boxing Day men’s tournament again was a success thanks to the many participants, said organizer Bob Tkachuk.
Sixteen players took to the courts at the Memorial Sports Centre on Friday morning and battled it out until late in the afternoon.
The championship final pitted local Jason Kabel facing off against former Fort Frances resident Ben Andrusco.
Kabel had defeated Cole Derksen, Mark Faragher, and Steve Boileau (all by scores of 3-0) to reach the final while Andrusco got past Steve Krag 3-1 and Tkachuk 3-0.
Kabel and Andrusco battled to 2-2 in the best-of-five final, setting up a fifth-and-deciding game.
Kabel held the match on his racquet, serving match point at 10-9, but Andrusco’s exceptional retrieving ability pulled the game out for himself with an exciting 12-10 victory ending with a stroke call.
On the consolation side, ex-junior Cole Derksen defeated current junior Anniss Seid 3-1, with his short game carving too many winners for Seid to answer.
The classic plate division, meanwhile, featured Matt Sweigard and Chris Faragher. Sweigard had lost 3-0 to Mark Faragher and Cole Derksen before defeating Mike Brady 3-2 in a nail-biter to reach the final.
Faragher lost 3-1 to Tkachuk and 3-2 to Seid before blanking ex-junior Kevin Gruttner 3-0 to advance to the final against Sweigard.
Faragher rolled to a 3-0 win over Sweigard for his first tourney championship.
The next tournament for Sunset Country Squash Club players will be the Manitoba Closed on Jan. 29 at the Winnipeg Winter Club.
In related news, four club members (Kaitlyn DeGagne, Anniss Seid, Michael Brady, and Jason Kabel) will be taking part in the annual “Polar Plunge” tomorrow (Jan. 1) to raise money for community events and the local junior squash program.
